tobtevstötenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“tobte” and “töten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,447
“tobte” frequency rank
#3,083
“töten” frequency rank
41530
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tobte töten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs toben einem Menschen oder einem Tier gewaltsam das Leben nehmen

Where the eye mixes tobte and töten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tobte (CVCCV) and töten (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
tobte
5 ch
töten

Look-alike desk: tobte vs töten

A purely visual mix-up. tobte ([ˈtoːptə]) and töten ([ˈtøːtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41530, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tobte is recorded at frequency rank #38,447, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtoːptə]. töten is at rank #3,083, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtøːtn̩].

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 41530, this pair ranks #1,476,673 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tobte vs töten

Shared letters: et. Private to "tobte": bo. Private to "töten": nö.

"tobte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "töten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tobte ← otbte · tbote · tobbte · tobet · tobtte · totbe · ttobte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tobte" and "töten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtoːptə] versus [ˈtøːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tobte" vs "töten" - which ranks higher?
"töten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,083 in our German list, against #38,447 for "tobte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tobte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "töten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,476,673 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tobte" and "töten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tobte vs torre". 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 #1,476,673 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