Which to use
“karg” is an adjective and “kart” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,459
- “karg” frequency rank
- #16,467
- “kart” frequency rank
- 55926
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | karg | kart |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (sehr) knapp, gering, wenig | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs karten |
Where the eye mixes karg and kart
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. karg and kart follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses karg with kart
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: karg is [kaʁk] while kart is [kaʁt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “karg” becomes t in “kart”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
karg is recorded at frequency rank #39,459, classified as anadj, pronounced [kaʁk]. kart is at rank #16,467, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaʁt].
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 55926, this pair ranks #960,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of karg vs kart
Shared letters: akr. Private to "karg": g. Private to "kart": t.
"karg" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kart" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "karg" for "kart" ever safe?
Which is more common, "karg" or "kart"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "karg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kart" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #960,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "karg" and "kart" 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 #960,253 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.