Which to use
“kalt” is an adjective and “kau” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,306
- “kalt” frequency rank
- #41,934
- “kau” frequency rank
- 44240
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kalt | kau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine niedrige Temperatur habend; von/mit niedriger Temperatur; nicht (mehr) heiß | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kauen |
Where the eye mixes kalt and kau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. kalt runs 4 letters (CVCC) against kau's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kalt and kau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kalt is [kalt] while kau is [kaʊ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kalt is recorded at frequency rank #2,306, classified as anadj, pronounced [kalt]. kau is at rank #41,934, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaʊ̯].
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 44240, this pair ranks #1,392,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kalt vs kau
Shared letters: ak. Private to "kalt": lt. Private to "kau": u.
"kalt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- kalt ← aklt · kallt · kaltt · katl · kkalt · klat
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kalt" and "kau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "kalt" or "kau"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "kalt" and "kau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,392,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kalt" and "kau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kau 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 #1,392,477 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.