Which to use
“kaufte” is a verb and “Küste” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,949
- “kaufte” frequency rank
- #3,978
- “Küste” frequency rank
- 11927
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kaufte | Küste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kaufen | Grenzsaum zwischen Land und Meer |
Where the eye mixes kaufte and Küste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between kaufte and Küste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kaufte is [ˈkaʊ̯ftə] while Küste is [ˈkʏstə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kaufte is recorded at frequency rank #7,949, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʊ̯ftə]. Küste is at rank #3,978, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʏstə].
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 11927, this pair ranks #1,967,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kaufte vs Küste
Shared letters: ekt. Private to "kaufte": afu. Private to "Küste": sü.
"kaufte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "Küste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- kaufte ← akufte · kafute · kaufet · kauffte · kauftte · kautfe · kkaufte · kuafte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kaufte" for "Küste" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kaufte" or "Küste" show up more?
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 "kaufte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Küste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,967,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kaufte" and "Küste" 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 #1,967,174 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.