KämpfevskämpftWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#4,135
“Kämpfe” frequency rank
#4,368
“kämpft” frequency rank
8503
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kämpfe kämpft
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kampf 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kämpfen

Where the eye mixes Kämpfe and kämpft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kämpfe (CVCCCV) and kämpft (CVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Kämpfe
6 ch
kämpft

Why the eye confuses Kämpfe with kämpft

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kämpfe is [ˈkɛmp͡fə] while kämpft is [kɛmp͡ft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “Kämpfe” becomes t in “kämpft”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kämpfe is recorded at frequency rank #4,135, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛmp͡fə]. kämpft is at rank #4,368, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɛmp͡ft].

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 8503, this pair ranks #1,984,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kämpfe vs kämpft

Shared letters: fkmpä. Private to "Kämpfe": e. Private to "kämpft": t.

"Kämpfe" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "kämpft" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kämpfe" and "kämpft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kämpfe" is a noun and "kämpft" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kämpfe" or "kämpft"?
"Kämpfe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,135 in our German list, against #4,368 for "kämpft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kämpfe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kämpft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,984,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kämpfe" and "kämpft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kämpfst vs kämpft". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,984,024 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