tunvsTürWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#245
“tun” frequency rank
#1,095
“Tür” frequency rank
1340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tun Tür
Definition eine Handlung ausführen trennendes oder verbindendes Element zwischen Räumen und/oder Bereichen; Zugang; Eingang, Ausgang

Where the eye mixes tun and Tür

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

3 ch
tun
3 ch
Tür

Look-alike desk: tun vs Tür

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tun is [tuːn] while Tür is [tyːɐ̯]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tun is recorded at frequency rank #245, classified as averb, pronounced [tuːn]. Tür is at rank #1,095, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tyːɐ̯].

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 1340, this pair ranks #2,004,521 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tun vs Tür

Shared letters: t. Private to "tun": nu. Private to "Tür": .

"tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Tür" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tun" and "Tür" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tun" is a verb and "Tür" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "tun" or "Tür" show up more?
"tun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #245 in our German list, against #1,095 for "Tür". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tun" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tür" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,004,521 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tun" and "Tür" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taut vs Tür". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #2,004,521 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