tesvstuiTell them apart

Which to use

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

#44,969
“tes” frequency rank
#18,731
“tui” frequency rank
63700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tes tui
Definition Plural des Substantivs te deine, die Deinen/Deinigen mit Bezug auf mehrere vorher erwähnte Objekte oder Personen

Where the eye mixes tes and tui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. tes (CVC) and tui (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
tes
3 ch
tui

Why the eye confuses tes with tui

A purely visual mix-up. tes ([tɛs]) and tui ([ˈtuʔi]) 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 63700, 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]. tui is at rank #18,731, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtuʔi].

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 63700, this pair ranks #667,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tes vs tui

Shared letters: t. Private to "tes": es. Private to "tui": iu.

"tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tes" and "tui" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([tɛs] versus [ˈtuʔi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "tes" or "tui" show up more?
"tui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,731 in our German list, against #44,969 for "tes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #667,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tes" and "tui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tes vs trees". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #667,437 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