kommenvskommtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#181
“kommen” frequency rank
#128
“kommt” frequency rank
309
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kommen kommt
Definition einen Ort erreichen, sich von einem Ort hierher begeben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kommen

Where the eye mixes kommen and kommt

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

6 ch
kommen
5 ch
kommt

Why the eye confuses kommen with kommt

A purely visual mix-up. kommen ([ˈkɔmən]) and kommt ([kɔmt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kommen is recorded at frequency rank #181, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɔmən]. kommt is at rank #128, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɔmt].

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 309, this pair ranks #2,006,019 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kommen vs kommt

Shared letters: kmo. Private to "kommen": en. Private to "kommt": t.

"kommen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "kommt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kommenkkommen · kmomen · komemn · komen · kommenn · kommne · okmmen
  • kommtkkommt · kmomt · kommtt · komt · komtm · okmmt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kommen" and "kommt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɔmən] versus [kɔmt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kommen" vs "kommt" - which ranks higher?
"kommt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #128 in our German list, against #181 for "kommen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "kommen" and "kommt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kommen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kommt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,006,019 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kommen" and "kommt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kämmen vs kommen". 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 #2,006,019 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