TeilvsTeslaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#238
“Teil” frequency rank
#8,956
“Tesla” frequency rank
9194
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Teil Tesla
Definition ein Element, Stück oder Teilmenge eines Ganzen SI-Einheit für die magnetische Flussdichte

Where the eye mixes Teil and Tesla

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

4 ch
Teil
5 ch
Tesla

Look-alike desk: Teil vs Tesla

A purely visual mix-up. Teil ([taɪ̯l]) and Tesla ([ˈtɛsla]) 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 9194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Teil is recorded at frequency rank #238, classified as anoun, pronounced [taɪ̯l]. Tesla is at rank #8,956, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɛsla].

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 9194, this pair ranks #1,981,036 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Teil vs Tesla

Shared letters: elt. Private to "Teil": i. Private to "Tesla": as.

"Teil" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Tesla" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Teiletil · teill · teli · tiel · tteil
  • Teslaetsla · telsa · tesal · teslla · tessla · tsela · ttesla

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Teil" and "Tesla" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([taɪ̯l] versus [ˈtɛsla]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Teil" or "Tesla" show up more?
"Teil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #238 in our German list, against #8,956 for "Tesla". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Teil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tesla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,981,036 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Teil" and "Tesla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tes vs Tesla". 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 #1,981,036 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