KistevsKistenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,350
“Kiste” frequency rank
#11,271
“Kisten” frequency rank
18621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kiste Kisten
Definition massiver Behälter, meist aus Holz Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kiste

Where the eye mixes Kiste and Kisten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Kiste
6 ch
Kisten

Look-alike desk: Kiste vs Kisten

A purely visual mix-up. Kiste ([ˈkɪstə]) and Kisten ([ˈkɪstn̩]) 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) - “Kiste” sits inside “Kisten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kiste is recorded at frequency rank #7,350, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɪstə]. Kisten is at rank #11,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɪstn̩].

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 18621, this pair ranks #1,916,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kiste vs Kisten

Shared letters: eikst. Private to "Kiste": -. Private to "Kisten": n.

"Kiste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kisten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kisteikste · kiset · kisste · kistte · kitse · kkiste · ksite
  • Kisteniksten · kisetn · kissten · kistenn · kistne · kistten · kitsen · kkisten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kiste" and "Kisten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɪstə] versus [ˈkɪstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kiste" or "Kisten" show up more?
"Kiste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,350 in our German list, against #11,271 for "Kisten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kiste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kisten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,916,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kiste" and "Kisten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kisten vs kitten". 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 #1,916,502 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