tobenvstotesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: toben is a verb, totes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#20,088
“toben” frequency rank
#26,196
“totes” frequency rank
46284
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toben totes
Definition sich wild, rasend, hemmungslos gebärden/ ausdrücken Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tot

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
toben
5 ch
totes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toben is [ˈtoːbn̩] while totes is [ˈtoːtəs]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46284, 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]. totes is at rank #26,196, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtoːtəs].

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 46284, this pair ranks #1,324,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of toben vs totes

Shared letters: eot. Private to "toben": bn. Private to "totes": s.

"toben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "totes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tobenotben · tboen · tobben · tobenn · tobne · toebn · ttoben
  • totesottes · toets · totess · totse · tottes · ttoes · ttotes

Frequency comparison

toben#20,088
totes#26,196

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toben" and "totes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toben" is a verb and "totes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "toben" or "totes"?
"toben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,088 in our German list, against #26,196 for "totes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering toben vs totes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “toben”; for an adjective, it's “totes”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list