tilovstinyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tilo is a num, tiny is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tilo” is a num and “tiny” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,822
“tilo” frequency rank
#33,341
“tiny” frequency rank
65163
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tilo tiny
Definition Kardinalzahl zwischen null und zwei; eins winzig

Where the eye mixes tilo and tiny

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tilo
4 ch
tiny

Visual trap between tilo and tiny

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tilo is [tìló] while tiny is [ˈtaɪnɪ]. 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 (num vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tilo is recorded at frequency rank #31,822, classified as anum, pronounced [tìló]. tiny is at rank #33,341, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtaɪnɪ].

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 65163, this pair ranks #616,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tilo vs tiny

Shared letters: it. Private to "tilo": lo. Private to "tiny": ny.

"tilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tiny" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tiloitlo · tillo · tiol · tlio · ttilo
  • tinyitny · tinny · tinyy · tiyn · tniy · ttiny

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tilo" and "tiny" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tilo" is a num and "tiny" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "tilo" or "tiny" show up more?
"tilo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,822 in our German list, against #33,341 for "tiny". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tiny" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #616,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tilo" and "tiny" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tine vs tiny". 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 #616,378 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