Which to use
“Karte” and “Kartei” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,203
- “Karte” frequency rank
- #48,265
- “Kartei” frequency rank
- 49468
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Karte | Kartei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein handlicher, planer, steifer aber nicht starrer, meist rechteckiger Gegenstand aus Karton, Pappe, Papier, Kunststoff, allenfalls Holz oder Metall | nach einem bestimmten Prinzip sortierte Sammlung von Daten auf Karten oder Blättern gleichen Formats |
Where the eye mixes Karte and Kartei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Karte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Kartei's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Karte vs Kartei
A purely visual mix-up. Karte ([ˈkaʁtə]) and Kartei ([kaʁˈtaɪ̯]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Karte” sits inside “Kartei”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49468, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Karte is recorded at frequency rank #1,203, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaʁtə]. 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 49468, this pair ranks #1,210,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Karte vs Kartei
Shared letters: aekrt. Private to "Karte": -. Private to "Kartei": i.
"Karte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Kartei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Karte" for "Kartei" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Karte" vs "Kartei" - which ranks higher?
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 "Karte" 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 #1,210,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Karte" 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 #1,210,404 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.