Which to use
“tell” and “ter” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,428
- “tell” frequency rank
- #12,183
- “ter” frequency rank
- 26611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tell | ter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | erzählen | haben, besitzen |
Where the eye mixes tell and ter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tell with ter
A purely visual mix-up. tell ([tɛl]) and ter ([ˈte(ʁ)]) 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 26611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tell is recorded at frequency rank #14,428, classified as averb, pronounced [tɛl]. ter is at rank #12,183, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈte(ʁ)].
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 26611, this pair ranks #1,815,370 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tell vs ter
Shared letters: et. Private to "tell": l. Private to "ter": r.
"tell" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "ter" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tell ← etll · tel · tlel · ttell
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tell" and "ter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "tell" or "ter" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tell" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,815,370 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tell" and "ter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ter vs terme". 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 #1,815,370 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.