Which to use
“Kälte” and “Kater” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,974
- “Kälte” frequency rank
- #7,347
- “Kater” frequency rank
- 13321
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kälte | Kater |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | niedrige Temperatur | männliche Katze |
Where the eye mixes Kälte and Kater
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Kälte (CVCCV) and Kater (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Kälte and Kater
A purely visual mix-up. Kälte ([ˈkɛltə]) and Kater ([ˈkaːtɐ]) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13321, 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]. Kater is at rank #7,347, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaːtɐ].
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 13321, this pair ranks #1,958,720 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Kälte vs Kater
Shared letters: ekt. Private to "Kälte": lä. Private to "Kater": ar.
"Kälte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Kater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Kater ← akter · kaetr · katerr · katter · kkater · ktaer
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Kälte" and "Kater" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Kälte" or "Kater" 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 "Kälte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kater" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,958,720 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kälte" and "Kater" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kälte vs Kölle". 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 #1,958,720 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.