tale
[ˈteɪl]
The verdict
“tale” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #32,304 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #32,304
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Bericht
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tale |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈteɪl] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #32,304 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tale” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for tale is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈteɪl]. Corpus data places it at rank #32,304 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for tale, with forms such as "tael", "talle", and "tlae". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "te", "Tl", "Tat", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is tale, spelled T-A-L-E.
Definition
- 1Bericht
- 2Erzählung, Geschichte
- 3Lüge, Lügengeschichte, Märchen (tall tales)
- 4Fabel
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: tael,talle,tlae,ttale
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tale - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “tale”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is T-A-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈteɪl] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “te” - see the side-by-side comparison. tale vs te
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.