TopvsTöpfeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,000
“Top” frequency rank
#22,539
“Töpfe” frequency rank
23539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Top Töpfe
Definition leichtes, meistens ärmelloses, körpernah geschnittenes Oberteil Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Topf

Where the eye mixes Top and Töpfe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Top runs 3 letters (CVC) against Töpfe's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
Top
5 ch
Töpfe

Look-alike desk: Top vs Töpfe

A purely visual mix-up. Top ([tɔp]) and Töpfe ([ˈtœp͡fə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Top is recorded at frequency rank #1,000, classified as anoun, pronounced [tɔp]. Töpfe is at rank #22,539, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtœp͡fə].

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 23539, this pair ranks #1,859,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Top vs Töpfe

Shared letters: pt. Private to "Top": o. Private to "Töpfe": efö.

"Top" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Töpfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Top" for "Töpfe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([tɔp] versus [ˈtœp͡fə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Top" or "Töpfe" show up more?
"Top" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,000 in our German list, against #22,539 for "Töpfe". 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 "Top" and "Töpfe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Top" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Töpfe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,859,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Top" and "Töpfe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Töpfe vs torre". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,859,958 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