Which to use
“kac” is a noun and “kos” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,278
- “kac” frequency rank
- #36,463
- “kos” frequency rank
- 79741
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kac | kos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | körperliches Unwoholsein nach übermäßigem Alkoholkonsum; Kater, Katzenjammer, Katerstimmung, Hangover, Hang-over | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kosen |
Where the eye mixes kac and kos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. kac and kos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses kac with kos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kac is [kat͡s] while kos is [koːs]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79741, 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]. kos is at rank #36,463, tagged as averb, pronounced [koːs].
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 79741, this pair ranks #210,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of kac vs kos
Shared letters: k. Private to "kac": ac. Private to "kos": os.
"kac" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "kos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kac" and "kos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "kac" or "kos" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "kac" and "kos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kac" and "kos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kac vs KGaA". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #210,065 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.