Which to use
“ten” is a num and “thon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,729
- “ten” frequency rank
- #42,867
- “thon” frequency rank
- 49596
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ten | thon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zehn | Zeiteinheit, Dauer von zwölf Monaten; Jahr |
Where the eye mixes ten and thon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ten vs thon
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ten is [tɛn] while thon is [tʰɔn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ten is recorded at frequency rank #6,729, classified as anum, pronounced [tɛn]. thon is at rank #42,867, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tʰɔn].
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 49596, this pair ranks #1,205,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ten vs thon
Shared letters: nt. Private to "ten": e. Private to "thon": ho.
"ten" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "thon" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- thon ← hton · thhon · thno · thonn · tohn · tthon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ten" for "thon" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ten" vs "thon" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ten" and "thon" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,205,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ten" and "thon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thon 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 #1,205,484 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.