kaffevsKasteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,632
“kaffe” frequency rank
#45,378
“Kaste” frequency rank
77010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kaffe Kaste
Definition geröstete Kaffeebohnen geschlossene Gesellschaftsschicht innerhalb einer (insbesondere der hinduistischen) Gesellschaftsordnung

Where the eye mixes kaffe and Kaste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
kaffe
5 ch
Kaste

Visual trap between kaffe and Kaste

A purely visual mix-up. kaffe ([ˇkafə]) and Kaste ([ˈkastə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kaffe is recorded at frequency rank #31,632, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˇkafə]. Kaste is at rank #45,378, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkastə].

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 77010, this pair ranks #270,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kaffe vs Kaste

Shared letters: aek. Private to "kaffe": f. Private to "Kaste": st.

"kaffe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kaste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kaffeakffe · kafe · kafef · kfafe · kkaffe
  • Kasteakste · kaset · kasste · kastte · katse · kkaste · ksate

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kaffe" for "Kaste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˇkafə] versus [ˈkastə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kaffe" vs "Kaste" - which ranks higher?
"kaffe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,632 in our German list, against #45,378 for "Kaste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kaffe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kaste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #270,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kaffe" and "Kaste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs Kaste". 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 #270,630 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