tunvstustWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#245
“tun” frequency rank
#5,657
“tust” frequency rank
5902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tun tust
Definition eine Handlung ausführen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tun

Where the eye mixes tun and tust

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

3 ch
tun
4 ch
tust

Visual trap between tun and tust

A purely visual mix-up. tun ([tuːn]) and tust ([tuːst]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tun is recorded at frequency rank #245, classified as averb, pronounced [tuːn]. tust is at rank #5,657, tagged as averb, pronounced [tuːst].

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 5902, this pair ranks #1,993,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tun vs tust

Shared letters: tu. Private to "tun": n. Private to "tust": s.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tusttsut · ttust · tusst · tustt · utst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tun" and "tust" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([tuːn] versus [tuːst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tun" or "tust"?
"tun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #245 in our German list, against #5,657 for "tust". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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 "tust" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tun" and "tust" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taut vs tust". 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 #1,993,353 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