Which to use
“kaufe” and “kaufte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,388
- “kaufe” frequency rank
- #7,949
- “kaufte” frequency rank
- 13337
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kaufe | kaufte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kaufen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kaufen |
Where the eye mixes kaufe and kaufte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. kaufe runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against kaufte's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kaufe and kaufte
A purely visual mix-up. kaufe ([ˈkaʊ̯fə]) and kaufte ([ˈkaʊ̯ftə]) 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 13337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kaufe is recorded at frequency rank #5,388, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʊ̯fə]. kaufte is at rank #7,949, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʊ̯ftə].
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 13337, this pair ranks #1,958,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kaufe vs kaufte
Shared letters: aefku. Private to "kaufe": -. Private to "kaufte": t.
"kaufe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "kaufte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kaufe" and "kaufte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "kaufe" or "kaufte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "kaufe" and "kaufte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kaufe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kaufte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,958,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kaufe" and "kaufte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs kaufe". 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 #1,958,631 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.