kittenvskostenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#46,071
“kitten” frequency rank
#570
“kosten” frequency rank
46641
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kitten kosten
Definition etwas mithilfe von Kitt zusammenkleben [jemandem] etwas (zum Beispiel in Form von Geld) wert sein, einen Wert oder bestimmten Preis haben

Where the eye mixes kitten and kosten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kitten and kosten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
kitten
6 ch
kosten

Visual trap between kitten and kosten

A purely visual mix-up. kitten ([ˈkɪtn̩]) and kosten ([ˈkɔstn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kitten is recorded at frequency rank #46,071, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɪtn̩]. kosten is at rank #570, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɔstn̩].

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 46641, this pair ranks #1,312,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kitten vs kosten

Shared letters: eknt. Private to "kitten": i. Private to "kosten": os.

"kitten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "kosten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kitten ← iktten · kiten · kitetn · kittenn · kittne · kkitten · ktiten
  • kosten ← kkosten · kosetn · kossten · kostenn · kostne · kostten · kotsen · ksoten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kitten" and "kosten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɪtn̩] versus [ˈkɔstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kitten" or "kosten"?
"kosten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #570 in our German list, against #46,071 for "kitten". 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 "kitten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kosten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,312,158 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kitten" and "kosten" 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 #1,312,158 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