KarvsKaratWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,626
“Kar” frequency rank
#29,188
“Karat” frequency rank
69814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kar Karat
Definition kesselförmige Eintiefung an einem Berghang mit flachem Boden und steilen Rückwänden Einheit für die Masse (das Gewicht) von Edelsteinen: 1 Karat entspricht etwa 0,2 Gramm

Where the eye mixes Kar and Karat

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

3 ch
Kar
5 ch
Karat

Visual trap between Kar and Karat

A purely visual mix-up. Kar ([kaːɐ̯]) and Karat ([kaˈʁaːt]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Kar” sits inside “Karat”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kar is recorded at frequency rank #40,626, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaːɐ̯]. Karat is at rank #29,188, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈʁaːt].

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 69814, this pair ranks #465,135 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Kar vs Karat

Shared letters: akr. Private to "Kar": -. Private to "Karat": t.

"Kar" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Karat" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Karat ← akrat · kaart · karatt · karrat · karta · kkarat · kraat

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kar" for "Karat" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaːɐ̯] versus [kaˈʁaːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kar" or "Karat" show up more?
"Karat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,188 in our German list, against #40,626 for "Kar". 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 "Kar" and "Karat" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Karat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #465,135 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kar" and "Karat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kar 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 #465,135 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