TönevstunWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,865
“Töne” frequency rank
#245
“tun” frequency rank
7110
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Töne tun
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ton eine Handlung ausführen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Töne and tun apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Töne
3 ch
tun

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Töne is [ˈtøːnə] while tun is [tuːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Töne is recorded at frequency rank #6,865, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtøːnə]. tun is at rank #245, tagged as averb, pronounced [tuːn].

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 7110, this pair ranks #1,989,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Töne vs tun

Shared letters: nt. Private to "Töne": . Private to "tun": u.

"Töne" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

Töne#6,865
tun#245

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Töne" and "tun" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Töne" is a noun and "tun" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Töne" or "tun"?
"tun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #245 in our German list, against #6,865 for "Töne". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Töne vs tun

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Töne”; for a verb, it's “tun”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Töne” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list