TuchvstunTell them apart

Quick tell: Tuch is a noun, tun is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Tuch” is a noun and “tun” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,190
“Tuch” frequency rank
#245
“tun” frequency rank
10435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tuch tun
Definition Textilie aus diversen Materialien (Wort wird oft ohne bestimmten Artikel benutzt) eine Handlung ausführen

Where the eye mixes Tuch and tun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Tuch
3 ch
tun

Why the eye confuses Tuch with tun

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tuch is [tuːx] while tun is [tuːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tuch is recorded at frequency rank #10,190, classified as anoun, pronounced [tuːx]. tun is at rank #245, tagged as averb, pronounced [tuːn].

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 10435, this pair ranks #1,975,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Tuch vs tun

Shared letters: tu. Private to "Tuch": ch. Private to "tun": n.

"Tuch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tuchtcuh · ttuch · tucch · tuchh · tuhc · utch

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Tuch" for "tun" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tuch" is a noun and "tun" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Tuch" vs "tun" - which ranks higher?
"tun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #245 in our German list, against #10,190 for "Tuch". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tuch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,975,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tuch" and "tun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tuch vs Tusche". 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 #1,975,152 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