timevsTypeTell them apart

Quick tell: time is a verb, Type is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“time” is a verb and “Type” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,492
“time” frequency rank
#13,042
“Type” frequency rank
16534
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature time Type
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs timen einzelnes Element einer Schriftart

Where the eye mixes time and Type

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

4 ch
time
4 ch
Type

Look-alike desk: time vs Type

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: time is [ˈtaɪ̯mə] while Type is [ˈtyːpə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

time is recorded at frequency rank #3,492, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtaɪ̯mə]. Type is at rank #13,042, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtyːpə].

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 16534, this pair ranks #1,935,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of time vs Type

Shared letters: et. Private to "time": im. Private to "Type": py.

"time" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Type" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • timeitme · tiem · timme · tmie · ttime
  • Typetpye · ttype · tyep · typpe · tyype · ytpe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "time" for "Type" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "time" is a verb and "Type" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "time" or "Type"?
"time" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,492 in our German list, against #13,042 for "Type". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "time" and "Type" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "time" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Type" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,935,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "time" and "Type" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tine vs Type". 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 #1,935,066 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