KaufvskunConfusable pair

Quick tell: Kauf is a noun, kun is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kauf” is a noun and “kun” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,668
“Kauf” frequency rank
#35,882
“kun” frequency rank
37550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kauf kun
Definition der entgeltliche Erwerb einer Ware mit

Where the eye mixes Kauf and kun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Kauf
3 ch
kun

Visual trap between Kauf and kun

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kauf is [kaʊ̯f] while kun is [kun]. 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kauf is recorded at frequency rank #1,668, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaʊ̯f]. kun is at rank #35,882, tagged as aprep, pronounced [kun].

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 37550, this pair ranks #1,587,258 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kauf vs kun

Shared letters: ku. Private to "Kauf": af. Private to "kun": n.

"Kauf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "kun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kaufakuf · kafu · kauff · kkauf · kuaf

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kauf" and "kun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kauf" is a noun and "kun" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kauf" or "kun"?
"Kauf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,668 in our German list, against #35,882 for "kun". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kauf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,587,258 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kauf" and "kun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Koi vs kun". 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 #1,587,258 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