Which to use
“cause” and “course” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,663
- “cause” frequency rank
- #23,880
- “course” frequency rank
- 51543
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cause | course |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Grund, Ursache, Anlass | die Richtung einer Fortbewegung |
Where the eye mixes cause and course
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cause vs course
A purely visual mix-up. cause ([koz]) and course ([kɔːs]) 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 51543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cause is recorded at frequency rank #27,663, classified as anoun, pronounced [koz]. course is at rank #23,880, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɔːs].
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 51543, this pair ranks #1,131,453 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cause vs course
Shared letters: cesu. Private to "cause": a. Private to "course": or.
"cause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "course" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cause" and "course" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cause" vs "course" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cause" and "course" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "course" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,131,453 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cause" and "course" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cause vs Clausen". 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 #1,131,453 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.