Which to use
“kaum” is an adverb and “kaut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #379
- “kaum” frequency rank
- #46,771
- “kaut” frequency rank
- 47150
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kaum | kaut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nur zu einem sehr geringen Grad; so gut wie gar nicht | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kauen |
Where the eye mixes kaum and kaut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kaum and kaut follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between kaum and kaut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kaum is [kaʊ̯m] while kaut is [kaʊ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “kaum” becomes t in “kaut”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kaum is recorded at frequency rank #379, classified as anadv, pronounced [kaʊ̯m]. kaut is at rank #46,771, tagged as averb, pronounced [kaʊ̯t].
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 47150, this pair ranks #1,294,452 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kaum vs kaut
Shared letters: aku. Private to "kaum": m. Private to "kaut": t.
"kaum" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "kaut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kaum" and "kaut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "kaum" or "kaut" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kaum" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kaut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,294,452 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kaum" and "kaut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kaut vs kräht". 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 #1,294,452 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.