Which to use
“teen” is a noun and “teilen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,141
- “teen” frequency rank
- #1,023
- “teilen” frequency rank
- 9164
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | teen | teilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Zeh (ein Endabschnitt der Gliedmaßen der vierfüßigen Wirbeltiere, bei Primaten insbesondere Menschen nur der der hinteren Gliedmaßen) | ein Ganzes in Bestandteile zerlegen |
Where the eye mixes teen and teilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. teen runs 4 letters (CVVC) against teilen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between teen and teilen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: teen is [ten] while teilen is [ˈtaɪ̯lən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
teen is recorded at frequency rank #8,141, classified as anoun, pronounced [ten]. teilen is at rank #1,023, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtaɪ̯lən].
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 9164, this pair ranks #1,981,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of teen vs teilen
Shared letters: ent. Private to "teen": -. Private to "teilen": il.
"teen" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "teilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "teen" and "teilen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "teen" vs "teilen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "teen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "teilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,981,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "teen" and "teilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teen vs trees". 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 #1,981,207 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.