tastenvstesteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“tasten” and “teste” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,959
“tasten” frequency rank
#24,148
“teste” frequency rank
38107
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tasten teste
Definition versuchen, die Gegenstände seiner Umgebung durch Berühren wahrzunehmen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs testen

Where the eye mixes tasten and teste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
tasten
5 ch
teste

Why the eye confuses tasten with teste

A purely visual mix-up. tasten ([ˈtastn̩]) and teste ([ˈtɛstə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tasten is recorded at frequency rank #13,959, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtastn̩]. teste is at rank #24,148, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtɛstə].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 38107, this pair ranks #1,572,590 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tasten vs teste

Shared letters: est. Private to "tasten": an. Private to "teste": -.

"tasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "teste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tastenatsten · tasetn · tassten · tastenn · tastne · tastten · tatsen · tsaten
  • testeetste · teset · tesste · tetse · tsete · tteste

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tasten" and "teste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtastn̩] versus [ˈtɛstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tasten" or "teste"?
"tasten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,959 in our German list, against #24,148 for "teste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tasten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "teste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,572,590 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tasten" and "teste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terme vs teste". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,572,590 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list