Which to use
“cards” is an unknown and “carte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,563
- “cards” frequency rank
- #35,688
- “carte” frequency rank
- 57251
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cards | carte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural von card | Zettel, Karton |
Where the eye mixes cards and carte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cards and carte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cards is [kɑːds] while carte is [kaʁt]. 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 (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cards is recorded at frequency rank #21,563, classified as anunknown, pronounced [kɑːds]. carte is at rank #35,688, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaʁt].
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 57251, this pair ranks #908,592 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cards vs carte
Shared letters: acr. Private to "cards": ds. Private to "carte": et.
"cards" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "carte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cards" and "carte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "cards" or "carte" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cards" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "carte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #908,592 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cards" and "carte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carr vs carte". 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 #908,592 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.