KaratevskargeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,336
“Karate” frequency rank
#49,815
“karge” frequency rank
64151
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Karate karge
Definition waffenlose Kampf- oder Verteidigungskunst 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kargen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Karate and karge apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Karate
5 ch
karge

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Karate is [kaˈʁaːtə] while karge is [ˈkaʁɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Karate is recorded at frequency rank #14,336, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈʁaːtə]. karge is at rank #49,815, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʁɡə].

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 64151, this pair ranks #651,629 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Karate vs karge

Shared letters: aekr. Private to "Karate": t. Private to "karge": g.

"Karate" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "karge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Karateakrate · kaarte · karaet · karatte · karrate · kartae · kkarate · kraate
  • kargeakrge · kagre · kareg · kargge · karrge · kkarge · krage

Frequency comparison

Karate#14,336
karge#49,815

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Karate" and "karge" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Karate" is a noun and "karge" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Karate" or "karge"?
"Karate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,336 in our German list, against #49,815 for "karge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Karate vs karge

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Karate”; for a verb, it's “karge”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Karate” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list