tollemvsTollenConfusable pair

Quick tell: tollem is a adjective, Tollen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tollem” is an adjective and “Tollen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,973
“tollem” frequency rank
#2,926
“Tollen” frequency rank
47899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tollem Tollen
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs toll Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Tolle

Where the eye mixes tollem and Tollen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tollem and Tollen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
tollem
6 ch
Tollen

Look-alike desk: tollem vs Tollen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tollem is [ˈtɔləm] while Tollen is [ˈtɔlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “tollem” becomes n in “Tollen”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tollem is recorded at frequency rank #44,973, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtɔləm]. Tollen is at rank #2,926, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɔlən].

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 47899, this pair ranks #1,267,982 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tollem vs Tollen

Shared letters: elot. Private to "tollem": m. Private to "Tollen": n.

"tollem" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Tollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tollem ← otllem · tlolem · tolelm · tolem · tollemm · tollme · ttollem
  • Tollen ← otllen · tlolen · toleln · tolen · tollenn · tollne · ttollen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tollem" for "Tollen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tollem" is an adjective and "Tollen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tollem" vs "Tollen" - which ranks higher?
"Tollen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,926 in our German list, against #44,973 for "tollem". 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 "tollem" and "Tollen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tollem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tollen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,267,982 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tollem" and "Tollen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tollem vs Totem". 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 #1,267,982 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