TeilchenvsteilenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Teilchen is a noun, teilen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Teilchen” is a noun and “teilen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,708
“Teilchen” frequency rank
#1,023
“teilen” frequency rank
14731
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Teilchen teilen
Definition im Vergleich zum übergeordneten System sehr kleines Objekt; speziell: Objekt, welches kleiner ist, als ein Atom ein Ganzes in Bestandteile zerlegen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Teilchen and teilen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
Teilchen
6 ch
teilen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Teilchen is [ˈtaɪ̯lçən] while teilen is [ˈtaɪ̯lən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 14731, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Teilchen is recorded at frequency rank #13,708, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaɪ̯lçən]. teilen is at rank #1,023, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtaɪ̯lən].

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 14731, this pair ranks #1,949,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Teilchen vs teilen

Shared letters: eilnt. Private to "Teilchen": ch. Private to "teilen": -.

"Teilchen" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC  ·  "teilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Teilchenteiclhen · teilcchen · teilcehn · teilchenn · teilchhen · teilchne · teilhcen · teillchen
  • teilenetilen · teieln · teilenn · teillen · teilne · telien · tielen · tteilen

Frequency comparison

Teilchen#13,708
teilen#1,023

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Teilchen" and "teilen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Teilchen" is a noun and "teilen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Teilchen" or "teilen"?
"teilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,023 in our German list, against #13,708 for "Teilchen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Teilchen vs teilen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Teilchen”; for a verb, it's “teilen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Teilchen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list