TeilvstesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#238
“Teil” frequency rank
#44,969
“tes” frequency rank
45207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Teil tes
Definition ein Element, Stück oder Teilmenge eines Ganzen Plural des Substantivs te

Where the eye mixes Teil and tes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Teil
3 ch
tes

Why the eye confuses Teil with tes

A purely visual mix-up. Teil ([taɪ̯l]) and tes ([tɛs]) 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 45207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Teil is recorded at frequency rank #238, classified as anoun, pronounced [taɪ̯l]. tes is at rank #44,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɛs].

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 45207, this pair ranks #1,360,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Teil vs tes

Shared letters: et. Private to "Teil": il. Private to "tes": s.

"Teil" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Teiletil · teill · teli · tiel · tteil

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Teil" and "tes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([taɪ̯l] versus [tɛs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Teil" vs "tes" - which ranks higher?
"Teil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #238 in our German list, against #44,969 for "tes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Teil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,360,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Teil" and "tes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tes 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 #1,360,857 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