Which to use
“Kartei” and “Kater” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,265
- “Kartei” frequency rank
- #7,347
- “Kater” frequency rank
- 55612
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kartei | Kater |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nach einem bestimmten Prinzip sortierte Sammlung von Daten auf Karten oder Blättern gleichen Formats | männliche Katze |
Where the eye mixes Kartei and Kater
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kartei runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against Kater's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Kartei with Kater
A purely visual mix-up. Kartei ([kaʁˈtaɪ̯]) and Kater ([ˈkaːtɐ]) 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 55612, 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]. Kater is at rank #7,347, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaːtɐ].
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 55612, this pair ranks #972,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Kartei vs Kater
Shared letters: aekrt. Private to "Kartei": i. Private to "Kater": -.
"Kartei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "Kater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Kartei" and "Kater" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Kartei" or "Kater"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Kartei" and "Kater" 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 "Kater" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #972,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kartei" and "Kater" 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 #972,868 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.