totvstuiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tot is a adjective, tui is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tot” is an adjective and “tui” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,525
“tot” frequency rank
#18,731
“tui” frequency rank
20256
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tot tui
Definition nicht (mehr) lebend deine, die Deinen/Deinigen mit Bezug auf mehrere vorher erwähnte Objekte oder Personen

Where the eye mixes tot and tui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
tot
3 ch
tui

Visual trap between tot and tui

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tot is [toːt] while tui is [ˈtuʔi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tot is recorded at frequency rank #1,525, classified as anadj, pronounced [toːt]. tui is at rank #18,731, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtuʔi].

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 20256, this pair ranks #1,899,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tot vs tui

Shared letters: t. Private to "tot": o. Private to "tui": iu.

"tot" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tot" and "tui" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tot" is an adjective and "tui" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tot" vs "tui" - which ranks higher?
"tot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,525 in our German list, against #18,731 for "tui". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "tot" and "tui" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,899,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tot" and "tui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taut vs tui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,899,652 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