Which to use
“Teer” and “terre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,240
- “Teer” frequency rank
- #32,310
- “terre” frequency rank
- 69550
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Teer | terre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | braunschwarze, dicke, fette, klumpige, ölig-klebrige Flüssigkeit von scharfem Geruch, die durch trockenes Erhitzen organischer Stoffe (zum Beispiel Kohle) unter Luftabschluss entsteht | die ganze Erdkugel, die wir bewohnen, die Meere inbegriffen |
Where the eye mixes Teer and terre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Teer runs 4 letters (CVVC) against terre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Teer and terre
A purely visual mix-up. Teer ([teːɐ̯]) and terre ([tɛr]) 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 69550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Teer is recorded at frequency rank #37,240, classified as anoun, pronounced [teːɐ̯]. terre is at rank #32,310, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɛr].
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 69550, this pair ranks #473,175 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Teer vs terre
Shared letters: ert. Private to "Teer": -. Private to "terre": -.
"Teer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "terre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Teer" and "terre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Teer" or "terre"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Teer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "terre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #473,175 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Teer" and "terre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Teer 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 #473,175 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.