kochtevsKohleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: kochte is a verb, Kohle is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kochte” is a verb and “Kohle” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,022
“kochte” frequency rank
#3,464
“Kohle” frequency rank
40486
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kochte Kohle
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kochen dunkelbraune oder schwarze, stark kohlenstoffhaltige, brennbare Substanz, meist aus fossilisierten Pflanzen entstanden

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kochte and Kohle apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
kochte
5 ch
Kohle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kochte is [ˈkɔxtə] while Kohle is [ˈkoːlə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kochte is recorded at frequency rank #37,022, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɔxtə]. Kohle is at rank #3,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoːlə].

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 40486, this pair ranks #1,507,057 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kochte vs Kohle

Shared letters: ehko. Private to "kochte": ct. Private to "Kohle": l.

"kochte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "Kohle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kochtekcohte · kkochte · kocchte · kochet · kochhte · kochtte · kocthe · kohcte
  • Kohlekhole · kkohle · kohel · kohhle · kohlle · kolhe · okhle

Frequency comparison

kochte#37,022
Kohle#3,464

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kochte" and "Kohle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kochte" is a verb and "Kohle" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kochte" or "Kohle"?
"Kohle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,464 in our German list, against #37,022 for "kochte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering kochte vs Kohle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “kochte”; for a noun, it's “Kohle”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kochte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list