Which to use
“Karte” is a noun and “kaut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,203
- “Karte” frequency rank
- #46,771
- “kaut” frequency rank
- 47974
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Karte | kaut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein handlicher, planer, steifer aber nicht starrer, meist rechteckiger Gegenstand aus Karton, Pappe, Papier, Kunststoff, allenfalls Holz oder Metall | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kauen |
Where the eye mixes Karte and kaut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Karte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against kaut's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Karte with kaut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Karte is [ˈkaʁtə] while kaut is [kaʊ̯t]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47974, 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]. kaut is at rank #46,771, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaʊ̯t].
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 47974, this pair ranks #1,265,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Karte vs kaut
Shared letters: akt. Private to "Karte": er. Private to "kaut": u.
"Karte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "kaut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Karte" for "kaut" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Karte" vs "kaut" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Karte" and "kaut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Karte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kaut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,265,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Karte" and "kaut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kaut vs kräht". 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 #1,265,326 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.