tauchtevstäuschtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,185
“tauchte” frequency rank
#16,572
“täuscht” frequency rank
26757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tauchte täuscht
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs tauchen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs täuschen

Where the eye mixes tauchte and täuscht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tauchte (CVVCCCV) and täuscht (CVVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
tauchte
7 ch
täuscht

Look-alike desk: tauchte vs täuscht

A purely visual mix-up. tauchte ([ˈtaʊ̯xtə]) and täuscht ([tɔɪ̯ʃt]) 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 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tauchte is recorded at frequency rank #10,185, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtaʊ̯xtə]. täuscht is at rank #16,572, tagged as averb, pronounced [tɔɪ̯ʃt].

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 26757, this pair ranks #1,812,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tauchte vs täuscht

Shared letters: chtu. Private to "tauchte": ae. Private to "täuscht": sä.

"tauchte" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV  ·  "täuscht" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tauchte ← atuchte · tacuhte · taucchte · tauchet · tauchhte · tauchtte · taucthe · tauhcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tauchte" for "täuscht" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtaʊ̯xtə] versus [tɔɪ̯ʃt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tauchte" vs "täuscht" - which ranks higher?
"tauchte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,185 in our German list, against #16,572 for "täuscht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tauchte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "täuscht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,812,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tauchte" and "täuscht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "täuscht vs Tusche". 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 #1,812,907 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