kämpftvsKrampfWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,368
“kämpft” frequency rank
#21,324
“Krampf” frequency rank
25692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kämpft Krampf
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kämpfen ungewollte starke Muskelanspannung, die mit sehr großen Schmerzen verbunden sein kann

Where the eye mixes kämpft and Krampf

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

6 ch
kämpft
6 ch
Krampf

Look-alike desk: kämpft vs Krampf

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kämpft is [kɛmp͡ft] while Krampf is [kʁamp͡f]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kämpft is recorded at frequency rank #4,368, classified as averb, pronounced [kɛmp͡ft]. Krampf is at rank #21,324, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁamp͡f].

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 25692, this pair ranks #1,829,433 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kämpft vs Krampf

Shared letters: fkmp. Private to "kämpft": . Private to "Krampf": ar.

"kämpft" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "Krampf" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Krampfkarmpf · kkrampf · kramfp · krammpf · krampff · kramppf · krapmf · krmapf

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kämpft" and "Krampf" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kämpft" is a verb and "Krampf" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kämpft" or "Krampf"?
"kämpft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,368 in our German list, against #21,324 for "Krampf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kämpft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Krampf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,829,433 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kämpft" and "Krampf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krampf vs Krämpfe". 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 #1,829,433 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