kappvskargConfusable pair

Quick tell: kapp is a verb, karg is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kapp” is a verb and “karg” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,221
“kapp” frequency rank
#39,459
“karg” frequency rank
77680
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kapp karg
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kappen (sehr) knapp, gering, wenig

Where the eye mixes kapp and karg

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
kapp
4 ch
karg

Visual trap between kapp and karg

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kapp is [kap] while karg is [kaʁk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kapp is recorded at frequency rank #38,221, classified as averb, pronounced [kap]. karg is at rank #39,459, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kaʁk].

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 77680, this pair ranks #255,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kapp vs karg

Shared letters: ak. Private to "kapp": p. Private to "karg": gr.

"kapp" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "karg" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kappakpp · kap · kkapp · kpap
  • kargakrg · kagr · kargg · karrg · kkarg · krag

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kapp" and "karg" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kapp" is a verb and "karg" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kapp" or "karg"?
"kapp" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,221 in our German list, against #39,459 for "karg". 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 "kapp" and "karg" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kapp" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "karg" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #255,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kapp" and "karg" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karg vs karge". 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 #255,339 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