tobtevstöteteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,447
“tobte” frequency rank
#16,021
“tötete” frequency rank
54468
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tobte tötete
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs toben 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs töten

Where the eye mixes tobte and tötete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tobte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against tötete's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
tobte
6 ch
tötete

Why the eye confuses tobte with tötete

A purely visual mix-up. tobte ([ˈtoːptə]) and tötete ([ˈtøːtətə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54468, 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]. tötete is at rank #16,021, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtøːtətə].

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 54468, this pair ranks #1,017,720 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tobte vs tötete

Shared letters: et. Private to "tobte": bo. Private to "tötete": ö.

"tobte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tötete" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tobte" and "tötete" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtoːptə] versus [ˈtøːtətə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tobte" vs "tötete" - which ranks higher?
"tötete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,021 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tobte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tötete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,017,720 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tobte" and "tötete" 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 #1,017,720 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