kargevsKlageConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#49,815
“karge” frequency rank
#3,898
“Klage” frequency rank
53713
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature karge Klage
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kargen sprachlich gefasste Äußerung unlustvoller Gefühle von Schmerz, Leid oder Trauer, etwa über den Tod eines Menschen

Where the eye mixes karge and Klage

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. karge (CVCCV) and Klage (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
karge
5 ch
Klage

Look-alike desk: karge vs Klage

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: karge is [ˈkaʁɡə] while Klage is [ˈklaːɡə]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

karge is recorded at frequency rank #49,815, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʁɡə]. Klage is at rank #3,898, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaːɡə].

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 53713, this pair ranks #1,047,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of karge vs Klage

Shared letters: aegk. Private to "karge": r. Private to "Klage": l.

"karge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Klage" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • karge ← akrge · kagre · kareg · kargge · karrge · kkarge · krage
  • Klage ← kalge · kklage · klaeg · klagge · klgae · kllage · lkage

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "karge" and "Klage" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "karge" is a verb and "Klage" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "karge" vs "Klage" - which ranks higher?
"Klage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,898 in our German list, against #49,815 for "karge". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "karge" and "Klage" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "karge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Klage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,047,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "karge" and "Klage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs Kartei". 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 #1,047,271 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