komvskosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,482
“kom” frequency rank
#36,463
“kos” frequency rank
62945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kom kos
Definition Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs komme 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kosen

Where the eye mixes kom and kos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
kom
3 ch
kos

Visual trap between kom and kos

A purely visual mix-up. kom ([ˈɡ̊ʰʌmˀ]) and kos ([koːs]) 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 a single letter - m in “kom” becomes s in “kos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kom is recorded at frequency rank #26,482, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡ̊ʰʌmˀ]. kos is at rank #36,463, tagged as averb, pronounced [koːs].

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 62945, this pair ranks #694,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kom vs kos

Shared letters: ko. Private to "kom": m. Private to "kos": s.

"kom" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "kos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kom" and "kos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡ̊ʰʌmˀ] versus [koːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kom" vs "kos" - which ranks higher?
"kom" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,482 in our German list, against #36,463 for "kos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kom" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #694,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kom" and "kos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kola vs kos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #694,425 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