tobenvsToteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#20,088
“toben” frequency rank
#2,691
“Tote” frequency rank
22779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toben Tote
Definition sich wild, rasend, hemmungslos gebärden/ ausdrücken weibliche Person, die nicht mehr am Leben, sondern verstorben ist

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set toben and Tote apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
toben
4 ch
Tote

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toben is [ˈtoːbn̩] while Tote is [ˈtoːtə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

toben is recorded at frequency rank #20,088, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtoːbn̩]. Tote is at rank #2,691, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtoːtə].

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 22779, this pair ranks #1,869,863 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of toben vs Tote

Shared letters: eot. Private to "toben": bn. Private to "Tote": -.

"toben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Tote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tobenotben · tboen · tobben · tobenn · tobne · toebn · ttoben
  • Totetoet · totte · ttoe · ttote

Frequency comparison

toben#20,088
Tote#2,691

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toben" and "Tote" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toben" is a verb and "Tote" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "toben" or "Tote"?
"Tote" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,691 in our German list, against #20,088 for "toben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering toben vs Tote

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “toben”; for a noun, it's “Tote”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “toben” 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