tastenvstextenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,959
“tasten” frequency rank
#5,224
“texten” frequency rank
19183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tasten texten
Definition versuchen, die Gegenstände seiner Umgebung durch Berühren wahrzunehmen Text verfassen, Text schreiben

Where the eye mixes tasten and texten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tasten and texten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
tasten
6 ch
texten

Look-alike desk: tasten vs texten

A purely visual mix-up. tasten ([ˈtastn̩]) and texten ([ˈtɛkstn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19183, 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]. texten is at rank #5,224, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtɛkstn̩].

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 19183, this pair ranks #1,910,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tasten vs texten

Shared letters: ent. Private to "tasten": as. Private to "texten": x.

"tasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "texten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tasten ← atsten · tasetn · tassten · tastenn · tastne · tastten · tatsen · tsaten
  • texten ← etxten · tetxen · texetn · textenn · textne · textten · texxten · ttexten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tasten" for "texten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtastn̩] versus [ˈtɛkstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "tasten" or "texten" show up more?
"texten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,224 in our German list, against #13,959 for "tasten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "texten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,910,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tasten" and "texten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tasten vs Taxen". 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 #1,910,989 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