tiefemvsTiereWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: tiefem is a adjective, Tiere is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tiefem” is an adjective and “Tiere” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,811
“tiefem” frequency rank
#1,212
“Tiere” frequency rank
34023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tiefem Tiere
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tief Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Tier

Where the eye mixes tiefem and Tiere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tiefem runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Tiere's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tiefem
5 ch
Tiere

Visual trap between tiefem and Tiere

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tiefem is [ˈtiːfm̩] while Tiere is [ˈtiːʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tiefem is recorded at frequency rank #32,811, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtiːfm̩]. Tiere is at rank #1,212, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtiːʁə].

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 34023, this pair ranks #1,672,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tiefem vs Tiere

Shared letters: eit. Private to "tiefem": fm. Private to "Tiere": r.

"tiefem" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Tiere" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tiefem ← itefem · teifem · tieefm · tiefemm · tieffem · tiefme · tifeem · ttiefem
  • Tiere ← itere · teire · tieer · tierre · tiree · ttiere

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tiefem" and "Tiere" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tiefem" is an adjective and "Tiere" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tiefem" or "Tiere"?
"Tiere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,212 in our German list, against #32,811 for "tiefem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "tiefem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tiere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,672,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tiefem" and "Tiere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tiefem vs Tiefsee". 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 #1,672,716 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