tollesvstoolsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tolles is a adjective, tools is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,622
“tolles” frequency rank
#12,399
“tools” frequency rank
16021
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tolles tools
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs toll 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tool

Letter map: tolles vs tools

Shared letters muted; letters that set tolles and tools apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. tolles runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against tools's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tolles
5 ch
tools

Role in the sentence - tolles and tools

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tolles is anadjective and toolsaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tolles is recorded at frequency rank #3,622, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtɔləs]. tools is at rank #12,399, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 16021, this pair ranks #1,939,281 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tolles vs tools

Shared letters: lost. Private to "tolles": e. Private to "tools": -.

"tolles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tools" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tollesotlles · tloles · tolels · toles · tolless · tollse · ttolles
  • toolsotols · tolos · tols · toolls · toolss · toosl · ttools

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tolles" and "tools" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tolles" is an adjective and "tools" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tolles" vs "tools" - which ranks higher?
"tolles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,622 in our German list, against #12,399 for "tools". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tolles" and "tools".

  • Full dictionary entry for "tolles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tools" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,939,281 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tolles" and "tools" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs tools". 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 #1,939,281 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