Which to use
“kaffe” is a noun and “kauft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,632
- “kaffe” frequency rank
- #3,536
- “kauft” frequency rank
- 35168
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kaffe | kauft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | geröstete Kaffeebohnen | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kaufen |
Where the eye mixes kaffe and kauft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses kaffe with kauft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kaffe is [ˇkafə] while kauft is [kaʊ̯ft]. 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 35168, 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]. kauft is at rank #3,536, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaʊ̯ft].
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 35168, this pair ranks #1,646,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kaffe vs kauft
Shared letters: afk. Private to "kaffe": e. Private to "kauft": tu.
"kaffe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "kauft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kaffe" and "kauft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "kaffe" or "kauft" 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 "kaffe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kauft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,646,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kaffe" and "kauft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kaffe vs karge". 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 #1,646,405 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.