totalenvstotalerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,953
“totalen” frequency rank
#15,230
“totaler” frequency rank
30183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature totalen totaler
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs total Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs total

Where the eye mixes totalen and totaler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
totalen
7 ch
totaler

Why the eye confuses totalen with totaler

A purely visual mix-up. totalen ([toˈtaːlən]) and totaler ([toˈtaːlɐ]) 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 a single letter - n in “totalen” becomes r in “totaler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

totalen is recorded at frequency rank #14,953, classified as anadj, pronounced [toˈtaːlən]. totaler is at rank #15,230, tagged as anadj, pronounced [toˈtaːlɐ].

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 30183, this pair ranks #1,752,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of totalen vs totaler

Shared letters: aelot. Private to "totalen": n. Private to "totaler": r.

"totalen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "totaler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • totalenottalen · toatlen · totaeln · totalenn · totallen · totalne · totlaen · tottalen
  • totalerottaler · toatler · totaelr · totalerr · totaller · totalre · totlaer · tottaler

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "totalen" and "totaler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([toˈtaːlən] versus [toˈtaːlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "totalen" or "totaler" show up more?
"totalen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,953 in our German list, against #15,230 for "totaler". 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 "totalen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "totaler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,752,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "totalen" and "totaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Titanen vs totalen". 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 #1,752,807 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