topsvsTuSWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: tops is a noun, TuS is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tops” is a noun and “TuS” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,825
“tops” frequency rank
#10,954
“TuS” frequency rank
42779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tops TuS
Definition Plural des Substantivs top Turn- und Spielvereinigung

Letter map: tops vs TuS

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

4 ch
tops
3 ch
TuS

Role in the sentence - tops and TuS

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tops is anoun and TuSanabbrev. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tops is recorded at frequency rank #31,825, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. TuS is at rank #10,954, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [tʊs].

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 42779, this pair ranks #1,438,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tops vs TuS

Shared letters: st. Private to "tops": op. Private to "TuS": u.

"tops" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "TuS" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • topsotps · topps · topss · tosp · tpos · ttops

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tops" for "TuS" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tops" is a noun and "TuS" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tops" or "TuS"?
"TuS" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,954 in our German list, against #31,825 for "tops". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tops" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "TuS" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,438,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tops" and "TuS" 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 #1,438,719 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