KarteivsKartellConfusable pair

Which to use

“Kartei” and “Kartell” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,265
“Kartei” frequency rank
#24,010
“Kartell” frequency rank
72275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kartei Kartell
Definition nach einem bestimmten Prinzip sortierte Sammlung von Daten auf Karten oder Blättern gleichen Formats verbotene Vereinbarungen zwischen Unternehmern, Beschlüsse von Unternehmervereinigungen und aufeinander abgestimmte Verhaltensweisen, die eine Verhinderung, Einschränkung oder Verfälschung des Wettbewerbs bezwecken oder bewirken

Where the eye mixes Kartei and Kartell

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kartei runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against Kartell's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Kartei
7 ch
Kartell

Look-alike desk: Kartei vs Kartell

A purely visual mix-up. Kartei ([kaʁˈtaɪ̯]) and Kartell ([kaʁˈtɛl]) 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 72275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kartei is recorded at frequency rank #48,265, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaʁˈtaɪ̯]. Kartell is at rank #24,010, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaʁˈtɛl].

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 72275, this pair ranks #392,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Kartei vs Kartell

Shared letters: aekrt. Private to "Kartei": i. Private to "Kartell": l.

"Kartei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "Kartell" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kartei ← akrtei · kareti · karrtei · kartie · karttei · katrei · kkartei · kratei
  • Kartell ← akrtell · karetll · karrtell · kartel · kartlel · karttell · katrell · kkartell

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kartei" for "Kartell" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaʁˈtaɪ̯] versus [kaʁˈtɛl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kartei" vs "Kartell" - which ranks higher?
"Kartell" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,010 in our German list, against #48,265 for "Kartei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Kartei" and "Kartell" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kartei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kartell" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #392,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kartei" and "Kartell" 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 #392,878 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list