KatzvsKotzeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,195
“Katz” frequency rank
#24,411
“Kotze” frequency rank
40606
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Katz Kotze
Definition Katze das Erbrochene

Where the eye mixes Katz and Kotze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Katz runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Kotze's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Katz
5 ch
Kotze

Visual trap between Katz and Kotze

A purely visual mix-up. Katz ([kat͡s]) and Kotze ([ˈkɔt͡sə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40606, 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]. Kotze is at rank #24,411, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɔt͡sə].

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 40606, this pair ranks #1,503,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Katz vs Kotze

Shared letters: ktz. Private to "Katz": a. Private to "Kotze": eo.

"Katz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kotze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Katz ← aktz · kattz · katzz · kazt · kkatz · ktaz
  • Kotze ← kkotze · kotez · kottze · kotzze · kozte · ktoze · oktze

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Katz" and "Kotze" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kat͡s] versus [ˈkɔt͡sə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Katz" or "Kotze" show up more?
"Katz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,195 in our German list, against #24,411 for "Kotze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Katz" and "Kotze" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Katz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kotze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,503,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Katz" and "Kotze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kölle vs Kotze". 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 #1,503,681 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