KartevsKarteiWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Karte and Kartei apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Karte
6 ch
Kartei

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • Karteakrte · karet · karrte · kartte · katre · kkarte · krate
  • Karteiakrtei · kareti · karrtei · kartie · karttei · katrei · kkartei · kratei

Frequency comparison

Karte#1,203
Kartei#48,265

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Karte" and "Kartei" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaʁtə] versus [kaʁˈtaɪ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Karte" or "Kartei"?
"Karte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,203 in our German list, against #48,265 for "Kartei". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Karte vs Kartei

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Karte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list