kacvsKalkWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,278
“kac” frequency rank
#13,871
“Kalk” frequency rank
57149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kac Kalk
Definition körperliches Unwoholsein nach übermäßigem Alkoholkonsum; Kater, Katzenjammer, Katerstimmung, Hangover, Hang-over Rohstoff im Baugewerbe

Where the eye mixes kac and Kalk

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. kac runs 3 letters (CVC) against Kalk's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
kac
4 ch
Kalk

Visual trap between kac and Kalk

A purely visual mix-up. kac ([kat͡s]) and Kalk ([kalk]) 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 57149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kac is recorded at frequency rank #43,278, classified as anoun, pronounced [kat͡s]. Kalk is at rank #13,871, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kalk].

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 57149, this pair ranks #912,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kac vs Kalk

Shared letters: ak. Private to "kac": c. Private to "Kalk": l.

"kac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Kalk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kalk ← aklk · kakl · kalkk · kallk · kkalk · klak

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kac" and "Kalk" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kat͡s] versus [kalk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kac" or "Kalk"?
"Kalk" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,871 in our German list, against #43,278 for "kac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kalk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #912,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kac" and "Kalk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kac vs KGaA". 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 #912,597 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