KastevsKatzeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,378
“Kaste” frequency rank
#2,659
“Katze” frequency rank
48037
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kaste Katze
Definition geschlossene Gesellschaftsschicht innerhalb einer (insbesondere der hinduistischen) Gesellschaftsordnung in zahlreichen Rassen gezüchtetes, dem Menschen verbundenes, anschmiegsames Haustier (Felis silvestris catus)

Where the eye mixes Kaste and Katze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kaste and Katze follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Kaste
5 ch
Katze

Why the eye confuses Kaste with Katze

A purely visual mix-up. Kaste ([ˈkastə]) and Katze ([ˈkat͡sə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kaste is recorded at frequency rank #45,378, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkastə]. Katze is at rank #2,659, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat͡sə].

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 48037, this pair ranks #1,263,127 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kaste vs Katze

Shared letters: aekt. Private to "Kaste": s. Private to "Katze": z.

"Kaste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Katze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kaste ← akste · kaset · kasste · kastte · katse · kkaste · ksate
  • Katze ← aktze · katez · kattze · katzze · kazte · kkatze · ktaze

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kaste" and "Katze" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkastə] versus [ˈkat͡sə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kaste" or "Katze" show up more?
"Katze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,659 in our German list, against #45,378 for "Kaste". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kaste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Katze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,263,127 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kaste" and "Katze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs Kaste". 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 #1,263,127 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