testevstobteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,148
“teste” frequency rank
#38,447
“tobte” frequency rank
62595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature teste tobte
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs testen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs toben

Where the eye mixes teste and tobte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
teste
5 ch
tobte

Look-alike desk: teste vs tobte

A purely visual mix-up. teste ([ˈtɛstə]) and tobte ([ˈtoːptə]) 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 62595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

teste is recorded at frequency rank #24,148, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtɛstə]. tobte is at rank #38,447, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtoːptə].

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 62595, this pair ranks #707,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of teste vs tobte

Shared letters: et. Private to "teste": s. Private to "tobte": bo.

"teste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tobte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • testeetste · teset · tesste · tetse · tsete · tteste
  • tobteotbte · tbote · tobbte · tobet · tobtte · totbe · ttobte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "teste" for "tobte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtɛstə] versus [ˈtoːptə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "teste" or "tobte"?
"teste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,148 in our German list, against #38,447 for "tobte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "teste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tobte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #707,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "teste" and "tobte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tobte vs torre". 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 #707,098 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