Which to use
“teen” is a noun and “töten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,141
- “teen” frequency rank
- #3,083
- “töten” frequency rank
- 11224
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | teen | töten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Zeh (ein Endabschnitt der Gliedmaßen der vierfüßigen Wirbeltiere, bei Primaten insbesondere Menschen nur der der hinteren Gliedmaßen) | einem Menschen oder einem Tier gewaltsam das Leben nehmen |
Where the eye mixes teen and töten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. teen runs 4 letters (CVVC) against töten's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: teen vs töten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: teen is [ten] while töten is [ˈtøːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 11224, 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]. töten is at rank #3,083, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtøːtn̩].
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 11224, this pair ranks #1,971,003 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of teen vs töten
Shared letters: ent. Private to "teen": -. Private to "töten": ö.
"teen" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "töten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- teen ← eten · teenn · tene · tteen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "teen" and "töten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "teen" vs "töten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "töten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,971,003 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "teen" and "töten" 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 #1,971,003 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.