thatvstobtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: that is a pronoun, tobt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“that” is a pronoun and “tobt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,321
“that” frequency rank
#20,089
“tobt” frequency rank
22410
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature that tobt
Definition kennzeichnet ein Ding, eine Person oder einen Vorgang, der räumlich oder von der Vorstellung weiter weg ist 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs toben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set that and tobt apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
that
4 ch
tobt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: that is [ðæt] while tobt is [toːpt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22410, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

that is recorded at frequency rank #2,321, classified as apron, pronounced [ðæt]. tobt is at rank #20,089, tagged as averb, pronounced [toːpt].

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 22410, this pair ranks #1,874,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of that vs tobt

Shared letters: t. Private to "that": ah. Private to "tobt": bo.

"that" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "tobt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • thathtat · taht · thatt · thhat · thta · tthat
  • tobtotbt · tbot · tobbt · tobtt · totb · ttobt

Frequency comparison

that#2,321
tobt#20,089

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "that" and "tobt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "that" is a pronoun and "tobt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "that" or "tobt"?
"that" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,321 in our German list, against #20,089 for "tobt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering that vs tobt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “that”; for a verb, it's “tobt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “that” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list