TiefenvstiefstenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Tiefen is a noun, tiefsten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,309
“Tiefen” frequency rank
#13,039
“tiefsten” frequency rank
17348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tiefen tiefsten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Tiefe Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs tief

Where the eye mixes Tiefen and tiefsten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Tiefen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against tiefsten's 8 (CVVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Tiefen
8 ch
tiefsten

Look-alike desk: Tiefen vs tiefsten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tiefen is [ˈtiːfn̩] while tiefsten is [ˈtiːfstn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tiefen is recorded at frequency rank #4,309, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtiːfn̩]. tiefsten is at rank #13,039, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtiːfstn̩].

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 17348, this pair ranks #1,928,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Tiefen vs tiefsten

Shared letters: efint. Private to "Tiefen": -. Private to "tiefsten": s.

"Tiefen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "tiefsten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tiefen ← itefen · teifen · tieefn · tiefenn · tieffen · tiefne · tifeen · ttiefen
  • tiefsten ← itefsten · teifsten · tieffsten · tiefsetn · tiefssten · tiefstenn · tiefstne · tiefstten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Tiefen" and "tiefsten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tiefen" is a noun and "tiefsten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Tiefen" vs "tiefsten" - which ranks higher?
"Tiefen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,309 in our German list, against #13,039 for "tiefsten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tiefen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tiefsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,928,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tiefen" and "tiefsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tiefsee vs tiefsten". 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 #1,928,178 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