KartenvsklärteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

“Karten” is a noun and “klärte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,559
“Karten” frequency rank
#45,390
“klärte” frequency rank
46949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Karten klärte
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Karte 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs klären

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Karten and klärte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Karten
6 ch
klärte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Karten is [ˈkaʁtn̩] while klärte is [ˈklɛːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46949, 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]. klärte is at rank #45,390, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈklɛːɐ̯tə].

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 46949, this pair ranks #1,301,422 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Karten vs klärte

Shared letters: ekrt. Private to "Karten": an. Private to "klärte": .

"Karten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "klärte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kartenakrten · karetn · karrten · kartenn · kartne · kartten · katren · kkarten

Frequency comparison

Karten#1,559
klärte#45,390

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Karten" and "klärte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Karten" is a noun and "klärte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Karten" or "klärte"?
"Karten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,559 in our German list, against #45,390 for "klärte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Karten vs klärte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Karten”; for a verb, it's “klärte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Karten” 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