Which to use
“Karten” and “Karton” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,559
- “Karten” frequency rank
- #11,907
- “Karton” frequency rank
- 13466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Karten | Karton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Karte | festeres, papierähnliches Produkt |
Where the eye mixes Karten and Karton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Karten with Karton
A purely visual mix-up. Karten ([ˈkaʁtn̩]) 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 a single letter - e in “Karten” becomes o in “Karton”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Karten is recorded at frequency rank #1,559, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaʁtn̩]. 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 13466, this pair ranks #1,957,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Karten vs Karton
Shared letters: aknrt. Private to "Karten": e. Private to "Karton": o.
"Karten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Karton" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Karten" and "Karton" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Karten" vs "Karton" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Karten" 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 #1,957,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Karten" 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 #1,957,806 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.