kamstvskautTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,841
“kamst” frequency rank
#46,771
“kaut” frequency rank
85612
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kamst kaut
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kommen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kauen

Where the eye mixes kamst and kaut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kamst runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against kaut's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
kamst
4 ch
kaut

Look-alike desk: kamst vs kaut

A purely visual mix-up. kamst ([kaːmst]) and kaut ([kaʊ̯t]) 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 85612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kamst is recorded at frequency rank #38,841, classified as averb, pronounced [kaːmst]. kaut is at rank #46,771, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaʊ̯t].

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 85612, this pair ranks #105,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kamst vs kaut

Shared letters: akt. Private to "kamst": ms. Private to "kaut": u.

"kamst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "kaut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kamst ← akmst · kammst · kamsst · kamstt · kamts · kasmt · kkamst · kmast
  • kaut ← katu · kautt · kkaut · kuat

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kamst" for "kaut" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaːmst] versus [kaʊ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kamst" vs "kaut" - which ranks higher?
"kamst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,841 in our German list, against #46,771 for "kaut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kamst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kaut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kamst" and "kaut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kaut vs kräht". 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 #105,728 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