thinvstuenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: thin is a adjective, tuen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“thin” is an adjective and “tuen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,623
“thin” frequency rank
#32,318
“tuen” frequency rank
77941
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature thin tuen
Definition von geringer Dicke 1. Person Plural Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tun

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
thin
4 ch
tuen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thin is [ˈθɪn] while tuen is [ˈtuːən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

thin is recorded at frequency rank #45,623, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈθɪn]. tuen is at rank #32,318, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtuːən].

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 77941, this pair ranks #249,400 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of thin vs tuen

Shared letters: nt. Private to "thin": hi. Private to "tuen": eu.

"thin" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "tuen" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • thinhtin · thhin · thinn · thni · tihn · tthin
  • tuenteun · ttuen · tuenn · tune · uten

Frequency comparison

thin#45,623
tuen#32,318

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "thin" and "tuen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "thin" is an adjective and "tuen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "thin" or "tuen"?
"tuen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,318 in our German list, against #45,623 for "thin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering thin vs tuen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “thin”; for a verb, it's “tuen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thin” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list