Which to use
“kauft” and “kaufte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,536
- “kauft” frequency rank
- #7,949
- “kaufte” frequency rank
- 11485
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kauft | kaufte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kaufen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kaufen |
Where the eye mixes kauft and kaufte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. kauft runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against kaufte's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kauft and kaufte
A purely visual mix-up. kauft ([kaʊ̯ft]) 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 extra letter(s) - “kauft” sits inside “kaufte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11485, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kauft is recorded at frequency rank #3,536, classified as averb, pronounced [kaʊ̯ft]. 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 11485, this pair ranks #1,969,649 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kauft vs kaufte
Shared letters: afktu. Private to "kauft": -. Private to "kaufte": e.
"kauft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "kaufte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kauft" and "kaufte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "kauft" or "kaufte" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "kauft" and "kaufte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kauft" 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 #1,969,649 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kauft" and "kaufte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kaufte 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 #1,969,649 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.