KatzvskotztTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#16,195
“Katz” frequency rank
#14,612
“kotzt” frequency rank
30807
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Katz kotzt
Definition Katze 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kotzen

Where the eye mixes Katz and kotzt

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

4 ch
Katz
5 ch
kotzt

Why the eye confuses Katz with kotzt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Katz is [kat͡s] while kotzt is [kɔt͡st]. 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 30807, 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]. kotzt is at rank #14,612, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɔt͡st].

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 30807, this pair ranks #1,740,677 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Katz vs kotzt

Shared letters: ktz. Private to "Katz": a. Private to "kotzt": o.

"Katz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kotzt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Katz ← aktz · kattz · katzz · kazt · kkatz · ktaz
  • kotzt ← kkotzt · kottz · kottzt · kotztt · kotzzt · koztt · ktozt · oktzt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Katz" for "kotzt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Katz" is a noun and "kotzt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Katz" vs "kotzt" - which ranks higher?
"kotzt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,612 in our German list, against #16,195 for "Katz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "kotzt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,740,677 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Katz" and "kotzt" 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 #1,740,677 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