Which to use
“Katz” is a noun and “kaum” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,195
- “Katz” frequency rank
- #379
- “kaum” frequency rank
- 16574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Katz | kaum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Katze | nur zu einem sehr geringen Grad; so gut wie gar nicht |
Where the eye mixes Katz and kaum
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Katz vs kaum
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Katz is [kat͡s] while kaum is [kaʊ̯m]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Katz is recorded at frequency rank #16,195, classified as anoun, pronounced [kat͡s]. kaum is at rank #379, tagged as anadv, pronounced [kaʊ̯m].
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 16574, this pair ranks #1,934,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Katz vs kaum
Shared letters: ak. Private to "Katz": tz. Private to "kaum": mu.
"Katz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kaum" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Katz" and "kaum" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Katz" or "kaum" show up more?
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 "Katz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kaum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,934,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Katz" and "kaum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Katz vs kaut". 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 #1,934,716 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.