KaffeevskaufteConfusable pair

Quick tell: Kaffee is a noun, kaufte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kaffee” is a noun and “kaufte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,230
“Kaffee” frequency rank
#7,949
“kaufte” frequency rank
9179
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kaffee kaufte
Definition anregendes schwarzes Aufgussgetränk 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kaufen

Where the eye mixes Kaffee and kaufte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Kaffee
6 ch
kaufte

Look-alike desk: Kaffee vs kaufte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kaffee is [ˈkafe] while kaufte is [ˈkaʊ̯ftə]. 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 9179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kaffee is recorded at frequency rank #1,230, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkafe]. kaufte is at rank #7,949, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʊ̯ftə].

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 9179, this pair ranks #1,981,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kaffee vs kaufte

Shared letters: aefk. Private to "Kaffee": -. Private to "kaufte": tu.

"Kaffee" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "kaufte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kaffeeakffee · kafee · kafefe · kfafee · kkaffee
  • kaufteakufte · kafute · kaufet · kauffte · kauftte · kautfe · kkaufte · kuafte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kaffee" and "kaufte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kaffee" is a noun and "kaufte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Kaffee" vs "kaufte" - which ranks higher?
"Kaffee" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,230 in our German list, against #7,949 for "kaufte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Kaffee" and "kaufte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kaffee" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kaufte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,981,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kaffee" and "kaufte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kaufte vs kaut". 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 #1,981,121 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