kittenvskotzenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,071
“kitten” frequency rank
#6,820
“kotzen” frequency rank
52891
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kitten kotzen
Definition etwas mithilfe von Kitt zusammenkleben den Mageninhalt über den Mund entleeren

Where the eye mixes kitten and kotzen

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

Look-alike desk: kitten vs kotzen

A purely visual mix-up. kitten ([ˈkɪtn̩]) and kotzen ([ˈkɔt͡sn̩]) 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 52891, 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]. kotzen is at rank #6,820, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɔt͡sn̩].

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 52891, this pair ranks #1,079,262 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kitten vs kotzen

Shared letters: eknt. Private to "kitten": i. Private to "kotzen": oz.

"kitten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "kotzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kitten ← iktten · kiten · kitetn · kittenn · kittne · kkitten · ktiten
  • kotzen ← kkotzen · kotezn · kottzen · kotzenn · kotzne · kotzzen · kozten · ktozen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kitten" and "kotzen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɪtn̩] versus [ˈkɔt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kitten" or "kotzen"?
"kotzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,820 in our German list, against #46,071 for "kitten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "kotzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,079,262 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kitten" and "kotzen" 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 #1,079,262 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