TokenvstötenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#31,824
“Token” frequency rank
#3,083
“töten” frequency rank
34907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Token töten
Definition Gerät, das zeitlich begrenzte, sichere Schlüssel für den Zugang zu Datenverarbeitungssystemen oder auch für das Internetbanking speichert oder generiert einem Menschen oder einem Tier gewaltsam das Leben nehmen

Where the eye mixes Token and töten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Token
5 ch
töten

Visual trap between Token and töten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Token is [ˈtoːkn̩] while töten is [ˈtøːtn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Token is recorded at frequency rank #31,824, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtoːkn̩]. 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 34907, this pair ranks #1,652,548 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Token vs töten

Shared letters: ent. Private to "Token": ko. Private to "töten": ö.

"Token" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "töten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tokenotken · tkoen · toekn · tokenn · tokken · tokne · ttoken

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Token" for "töten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Token" is a noun and "töten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Token" or "töten" show up more?
"töten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,083 in our German list, against #31,824 for "Token". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Token" 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 #1,652,548 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Token" and "töten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Token vs Torben". 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 #1,652,548 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