KettevsKutterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Kette” and “Kutter” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,283
“Kette” frequency rank
#48,290
“Kutter” frequency rank
52573
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kette Kutter
Definition Reihe aus beweglichen, ineinandergefügten Gliedern einmastiger, seetüchtiger Segler für Sport und Frachtbeförderung

Where the eye mixes Kette and Kutter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Kette
6 ch
Kutter

Why the eye confuses Kette with Kutter

A purely visual mix-up. Kette ([ˈkɛtə]) and Kutter ([ˈkʊtɐ]) 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 52573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kette is recorded at frequency rank #4,283, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛtə]. Kutter is at rank #48,290, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʊtɐ].

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 52573, this pair ranks #1,091,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kette vs Kutter

Shared letters: ekt. Private to "Kette": -. Private to "Kutter": ru.

"Kette" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ketteektte · kete · ketet · kkette · ktete
  • Kutterkkutter · ktuter · kuter · kutetr · kutterr · kuttre · uktter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kette" and "Kutter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛtə] versus [ˈkʊtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kette" vs "Kutter" - which ranks higher?
"Kette" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,283 in our German list, against #48,290 for "Kutter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kette" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,091,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kette" and "Kutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kitten vs Kutter". 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 #1,091,536 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