tesvsTonsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“tes” and “Tons” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,969
“tes” frequency rank
#48,547
“Tons” frequency rank
93516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tes Tons
Definition Plural des Substantivs te Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Ton

Where the eye mixes tes and Tons

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tes runs 3 letters (CVC) against Tons's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
tes
4 ch
Tons

Look-alike desk: tes vs Tons

A purely visual mix-up. tes ([tɛs]) and Tons ([toːns]) 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 93516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tes is recorded at frequency rank #44,969, classified as anoun, pronounced [tɛs]. Tons is at rank #48,547, tagged as anoun, pronounced [toːns].

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 93516, this pair ranks #22,317 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tes vs Tons

Shared letters: st. Private to "tes": e. Private to "Tons": no.

"tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Tons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tons ← otns · tnos · tonns · tonss · tosn · ttons

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tes" and "Tons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([tɛs] versus [toːns]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tes" or "Tons"?
"tes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,969 in our German list, against #48,547 for "Tons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "tes" and "Tons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,317 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tes" and "Tons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tine 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 #22,317 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list