Which to use
“Karte” and “Karton” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,203
- “Karte” frequency rank
- #11,907
- “Karton” frequency rank
- 13110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Karte | Karton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein handlicher, planer, steifer aber nicht starrer, meist rechteckiger Gegenstand aus Karton, Pappe, Papier, Kunststoff, allenfalls Holz oder Metall | festeres, papierähnliches Produkt |
Where the eye mixes Karte and Karton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Karte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Karton's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Karte with Karton
A purely visual mix-up. Karte ([ˈkaʁtə]) and Karton ([kaʁˈtɔ̃ː]) 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 13110, 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]. Karton is at rank #11,907, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaʁˈtɔ̃ː].
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 13110, this pair ranks #1,960,055 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Karte vs Karton
Shared letters: akrt. Private to "Karte": e. Private to "Karton": no.
"Karte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Karton" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Karte" and "Karton" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Karte" or "Karton" show up more?
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 "Karte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Karton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,960,055 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Karte" and "Karton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kartei vs Karton". 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 #1,960,055 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.