tobtevstotesConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#38,447
“tobte” frequency rank
#26,196
“totes” frequency rank
64643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tobte totes
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs toben Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tot

Where the eye mixes tobte and totes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
tobte
5 ch
totes

Look-alike desk: tobte vs totes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tobte is [ˈtoːptə] while totes is [ˈtoːtəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 64643, 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]. 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 64643, this pair ranks #634,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tobte vs totes

Shared letters: eot. Private to "tobte": b. Private to "totes": s.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tobteotbte · tbote · tobbte · tobet · tobtte · totbe · ttobte
  • totesottes · toets · totess · totse · tottes · ttoes · ttotes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tobte" for "totes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tobte" is a verb and "totes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tobte" vs "totes" - which ranks higher?
"totes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,196 in our German list, against #38,447 for "tobte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tobte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "totes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #634,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tobte" and "totes" 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 #634,270 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