Which to use
“taut” is a verb and “that” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,293
- “taut” frequency rank
- #2,321
- “that” frequency rank
- 51614
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | taut | that |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tauen | kennzeichnet ein Ding, eine Person oder einen Vorgang, der räumlich oder von der Vorstellung weiter weg ist |
Where the eye mixes taut and that
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: taut vs that
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: taut is [taʊ̯t] while that is [ðæt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51614, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
taut is recorded at frequency rank #49,293, classified as averb, pronounced [taʊ̯t]. that is at rank #2,321, tagged as apron, pronounced [ðæt].
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 51614, this pair ranks #1,128,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of taut vs that
Shared letters: at. Private to "taut": u. Private to "that": h.
"taut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "taut" for "that" ever safe?
Frequency check: "taut" vs "that" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "taut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "that" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,128,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "taut" and "that" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taft vs taut". 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 #1,128,772 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.