TeigvsTeilWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Teig” and “Teil” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,804
“Teig” frequency rank
#238
“Teil” frequency rank
13042
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Teig Teil
Definition aus mehreren Zutaten bestehende (häufig dickflüssige) formbare Masse, die meist als Grundstoff für Gebäck dient ein Element, Stück oder Teilmenge eines Ganzen

Where the eye mixes Teig and Teil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Teig
4 ch
Teil

Look-alike desk: Teig vs Teil

A purely visual mix-up. Teig ([taɪ̯k]) and Teil ([taɪ̯l]) 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 a single letter - g in “Teig” becomes l in “Teil”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Teig is recorded at frequency rank #12,804, classified as anoun, pronounced [taɪ̯k]. Teil is at rank #238, tagged as anoun, pronounced [taɪ̯l].

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 13042, this pair ranks #1,960,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Teig vs Teil

Shared letters: eit. Private to "Teig": g. Private to "Teil": l.

"Teig" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Teil" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Teigetig · tegi · teigg · tieg · tteig
  • Teiletil · teill · teli · tiel · tteil

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Teig" and "Teil" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([taɪ̯k] versus [taɪ̯l]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Teig" vs "Teil" - which ranks higher?
"Teil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #238 in our German list, against #12,804 for "Teig". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Teig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Teil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,960,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Teig" and "Teil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Teig vs thin". 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 #1,960,473 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list