kochtvskönntWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,229
“kocht” frequency rank
#1,233
“könnt” frequency rank
10462
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kocht könnt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kochen 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs können

Where the eye mixes kocht and könnt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. kocht and könnt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
kocht
5 ch
könnt

Why the eye confuses kocht with könnt

A purely visual mix-up. kocht ([kɔxt]) and könnt ([kœnt]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kocht is recorded at frequency rank #9,229, classified as averb, pronounced [kɔxt]. könnt is at rank #1,233, tagged as averb, pronounced [kœnt].

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 10462, this pair ranks #1,975,003 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kocht vs könnt

Shared letters: kt. Private to "kocht": cho. Private to "könnt": .

"kocht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "könnt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kochtkcoht · kkocht · koccht · kochht · kochtt · kocth · kohct · okcht

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kocht" for "könnt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kɔxt] versus [kœnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kocht" vs "könnt" - which ranks higher?
"könnt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,233 in our German list, against #9,229 for "kocht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kocht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "könnt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,975,003 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kocht" and "könnt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kocht 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 #1,975,003 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