KältevsKarteiWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,974
“Kälte” frequency rank
#48,265
“Kartei” frequency rank
54239
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kälte Kartei
Definition niedrige Temperatur nach einem bestimmten Prinzip sortierte Sammlung von Daten auf Karten oder Blättern gleichen Formats

Where the eye mixes Kälte and Kartei

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Kälte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Kartei's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Kälte
6 ch
Kartei

Visual trap between Kälte and Kartei

A purely visual mix-up. Kälte ([ˈkɛltə]) and Kartei ([kaʁˈtaɪ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kälte is recorded at frequency rank #5,974, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛltə]. Kartei is at rank #48,265, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaʁˈtaɪ̯].

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 54239, this pair ranks #1,026,625 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kälte vs Kartei

Shared letters: ekt. Private to "Kälte": lä. Private to "Kartei": air.

"Kälte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kartei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kartei ← akrtei · kareti · karrtei · kartie · karttei · katrei · kkartei · kratei

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kälte" and "Kartei" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛltə] versus [kaʁˈtaɪ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kälte" or "Kartei"?
"Kälte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,974 in our German list, against #48,265 for "Kartei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kälte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kartei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,026,625 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kälte" and "Kartei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs Kartei". 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 #1,026,625 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