KartevskautWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Karte is a noun, kaut is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Karte and kaut apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Karte
4 ch
kaut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • Karteakrte · karet · karrte · kartte · katre · kkarte · krate
  • kautkatu · kautt · kkaut · kuat

Frequency comparison

Karte#1,203
kaut#46,771

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Karte" and "kaut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Karte" is a noun and "kaut" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Karte" or "kaut"?
"Karte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,203 in our German list, against #46,771 for "kaut". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Karte vs kaut

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Karte”; for a verb, it's “kaut”.
  • 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