kartvskürztTell them apart

Which to use

“kart” and “kürzt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,467
“kart” frequency rank
#44,034
“kürzt” frequency rank
60501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kart kürzt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs karten 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kürzen

Where the eye mixes kart and kürzt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kart runs 4 letters (CVCC) against kürzt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
kart
5 ch
kürzt

Why the eye confuses kart with kürzt

A purely visual mix-up. kart ([kaʁt]) and kürzt ([kʏʁt͡st]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kart is recorded at frequency rank #16,467, classified as averb, pronounced [kaʁt]. kürzt is at rank #44,034, tagged as averb, pronounced [kʏʁt͡st].

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 60501, this pair ranks #784,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kart vs kürzt

Shared letters: krt. Private to "kart": a. Private to "kürzt": zü.

"kart" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kürzt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kart ← akrt · karrt · kartt · katr · kkart · krat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kart" and "kürzt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaʁt] versus [kʏʁt͡st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kart" vs "kürzt" - which ranks higher?
"kart" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,467 in our German list, against #44,034 for "kürzt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kart" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kürzt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #784,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kart" and "kürzt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kurie vs kürzt". 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 #784,654 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