topsvsToteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,825
“tops” frequency rank
#2,691
“Tote” frequency rank
34516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tops Tote
Definition Plural des Substantivs top weibliche Person, die nicht mehr am Leben, sondern verstorben ist

Letter map: tops vs Tote

Shared letters muted; letters that set tops and Tote apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
tops
4 ch
Tote

Corpus notes: tops and Tote

tops and Tote are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tops is recorded at frequency rank #31,825, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Tote is at rank #2,691, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtoːtə].

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 34516, this pair ranks #1,661,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tops vs Tote

Shared letters: ot. Private to "tops": ps. Private to "Tote": e.

"tops" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Tote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • topsotps · topps · topss · tosp · tpos · ttops
  • Totetoet · totte · ttoe · ttote

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tops" for "Tote" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary German text, does "tops" or "Tote" show up more?
"Tote" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,691 in our German list, against #31,825 for "tops". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tops" and "Tote".

  • Full dictionary entry for "tops" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,661,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tops" and "Tote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs tops". 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 #1,661,574 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