Which to use
“karg” is an adjective and “kau” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,459
- “karg” frequency rank
- #41,934
- “kau” frequency rank
- 81393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | karg | kau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (sehr) knapp, gering, wenig | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kauen |
Where the eye mixes karg and kau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. karg runs 4 letters (CVCC) against kau's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses karg with kau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: karg is [kaʁk] while kau is [kaʊ̯]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81393, 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]. kau is at rank #41,934, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaʊ̯].
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 81393, this pair ranks #176,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of karg vs kau
Shared letters: ak. Private to "karg": gr. Private to "kau": u.
"karg" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- karg ← akrg · kagr · kargg · karrg · kkarg · krag
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "karg" and "kau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "karg" vs "kau" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "karg" and "kau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "karg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #176,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "karg" and "kau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kau vs KGaA". 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 #176,686 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.