TeamvstomWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Team is a noun, tom is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Team” is a noun and “tom” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#513
“Team” frequency rank
#2,521
“tom” frequency rank
3034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Team tom
Definition aus mehreren Personen — mit unterschiedlichen Fähigkeiten — bestehende Organisationseinheit ohne Inhalt; leer

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Team and tom apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Team
3 ch
tom

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Team and tom form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Team is recorded at frequency rank #513, classified as anoun, pronounced [tiːm]. tom is at rank #2,521, tagged as anadj, pronounced [tum].

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 3034, this pair ranks #2,001,094 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

Team#513
tom#2,521

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Team" and "tom" be used interchangeably?
No, "Team" and "tom" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering Team vs tom

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Team”; for an adjective, it's “tom”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Team” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list