TönevsTunsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,865
“Töne” frequency rank
#44,983
“Tuns” frequency rank
51848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Töne Tuns
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ton Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Tun

Where the eye mixes Töne and Tuns

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Töne (CVCV) and Tuns (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Töne
4 ch
Tuns

Visual trap between Töne and Tuns

A purely visual mix-up. Töne ([ˈtøːnə]) and Tuns ([tuːns]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51848, 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]. Tuns is at rank #44,983, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tuːns].

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 51848, this pair ranks #1,119,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Töne vs Tuns

Shared letters: nt. Private to "Töne": eö. Private to "Tuns": su.

"Töne" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Tuns" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tuns ← tnus · ttuns · tunns · tunss · tusn · utns

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Töne" and "Tuns" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtøːnə] versus [tuːns]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Töne" vs "Tuns" - which ranks higher?
"Töne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,865 in our German list, against #44,983 for "Tuns". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Töne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tuns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,119,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Töne" and "Tuns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tine vs Tuns". 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 #1,119,688 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