Which to use
“te” is a pronoun and “tes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,979
- “te” frequency rank
- #44,969
- “tes” frequency rank
- 51948
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | te | tes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ihr, Sie (Höflichkeitsform) | Plural des Substantivs te |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set te and tes apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: te is [te] while tes is [tɛs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “te” sits inside “tes”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
te is recorded at frequency rank #6,979, classified as apron, pronounced [te]. tes is at rank #44,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɛs].
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 51948, this pair ranks #1,115,827 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of te vs tes
Shared letters: et. Private to "te": -. Private to "tes": s.
"te" · 2 letters · shape CV · "tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "te" and "tes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "te" or "tes"?
Remembering te vs tes
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “te”; for a noun, it's “tes”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “te” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable