TaxenvsTränenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,533
“Taxen” frequency rank
#3,690
“Tränen” frequency rank
47223
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Taxen Tränen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Taxe Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Träne

Where the eye mixes Taxen and Tränen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Taxen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Tränen's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Taxen
6 ch
Tränen

Visual trap between Taxen and Tränen

A purely visual mix-up. Taxen ([ˈtaksn̩]) and Tränen ([ˈtʁɛːnən]) 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 47223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Taxen is recorded at frequency rank #43,533, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaksn̩]. Tränen is at rank #3,690, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtʁɛːnən].

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 47223, this pair ranks #1,291,967 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Taxen vs Tränen

Shared letters: ent. Private to "Taxen": ax. Private to "Tränen": rä.

"Taxen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Tränen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Taxen ← atxen · taexn · taxenn · taxne · taxxen · ttaxen · txaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Taxen" and "Tränen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtaksn̩] versus [ˈtʁɛːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Taxen" or "Tränen"?
"Tränen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,690 in our German list, against #43,533 for "Taxen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Taxen" and "Tränen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Taxen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tränen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,291,967 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Taxen" and "Tränen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tadel 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 #1,291,967 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