Which to use
“tell” and “told” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,428
- “tell” frequency rank
- #44,284
- “told” frequency rank
- 58712
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tell | told |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | erzählen | Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs tell |
Where the eye mixes tell and told
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tell with told
A purely visual mix-up. tell ([tɛl]) and told ([təʊld]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58712, 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]. told is at rank #44,284, tagged as averb, pronounced [təʊld].
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 58712, this pair ranks #852,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tell vs told
Shared letters: lt. Private to "tell": e. Private to "told": do.
"tell" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "told" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tell" for "told" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tell" or "told"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "tell" and "told" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tell" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "told" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #852,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tell" and "told" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "told vs Tons". 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 #852,158 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.