KärntenvsKarteiWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Kärnten is a name, Kartei is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kärnten” is a name and “Kartei” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,556
“Kärnten” frequency rank
#48,265
“Kartei” frequency rank
54821
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kärnten Kartei
Definition ein Bundesland der Republik Österreich nach einem bestimmten Prinzip sortierte Sammlung von Daten auf Karten oder Blättern gleichen Formats

Where the eye mixes Kärnten and Kartei

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kärnten runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against Kartei's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Kärnten
6 ch
Kartei

Visual trap between Kärnten and Kartei

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kärnten is [ˈkɛʁntn̩] while Kartei is [kaʁˈtaɪ̯]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kärnten is recorded at frequency rank #6,556, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈkɛʁntn̩]. Kartei is at rank #48,265, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaʁˈtaɪ̯].

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 54821, this pair ranks #1,003,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kärnten vs Kartei

Shared letters: ekrt. Private to "Kärnten": nä. Private to "Kartei": ai.

"Kärnten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Kartei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kartei ← akrtei · kareti · karrtei · kartie · karttei · katrei · kkartei · kratei

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kärnten" and "Kartei" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kärnten" is a name and "Kartei" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Kärnten" vs "Kartei" - which ranks higher?
"Kärnten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,556 in our German list, against #48,265 for "Kartei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kärnten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kartei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,003,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kärnten" and "Kartei" 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 #1,003,665 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