Which to use
“ter” is a verb and “tes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,183
- “ter” frequency rank
- #44,969
- “tes” frequency rank
- 57152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ter | tes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | haben, besitzen | Plural des Substantivs te |
Where the eye mixes ter and tes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ter and tes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ter is [ˈte(ʁ)] while tes is [tɛs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “ter” becomes s in “tes”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ter is recorded at frequency rank #12,183, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈte(ʁ)]. tes is at rank #44,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɛs].
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 57152, this pair ranks #912,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ter vs tes
Shared letters: et. Private to "ter": r. Private to "tes": s.
"ter" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ter" for "tes" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ter" or "tes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ter" and "tes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #912,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ter" and "tes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tes vs trees". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #912,487 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.