KastevskostetTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#45,378
“Kaste” frequency rank
#1,603
“kostet” frequency rank
46981
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kaste kostet
Definition geschlossene Gesellschaftsschicht innerhalb einer (insbesondere der hinduistischen) Gesellschaftsordnung 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kosen

Where the eye mixes Kaste and kostet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kaste runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against kostet's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Kaste
6 ch
kostet

Visual trap between Kaste and kostet

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kaste is [ˈkastə] while kostet is [ˈkoːstət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46981, 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]. kostet is at rank #1,603, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkoːstət].

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 46981, this pair ranks #1,300,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kaste vs kostet

Shared letters: ekst. Private to "Kaste": a. Private to "kostet": o.

"Kaste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "kostet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kaste ← akste · kaset · kasste · kastte · katse · kkaste · ksate
  • kostet ← kkostet · kosett · kosstet · kostett · kostte · kosttet · kotset · ksotet

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kaste" and "kostet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kaste" is a noun and "kostet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kaste" or "kostet"?
"kostet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,603 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.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kaste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kostet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,300,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kaste" and "kostet" 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 #1,300,268 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