kontorvsKöterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,631
“kontor” frequency rank
#33,162
“Köter” frequency rank
75793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kontor Köter
Definition Dienststelle oder Geschäftsräumlichkeit, in der verschiedene schriftliche oder verwaltungstechnische Arbeiten erledigt werden Hund^([1])

Where the eye mixes kontor and Köter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kontor runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Köter's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
kontor
5 ch
Köter

Why the eye confuses kontor with Köter

A purely visual mix-up. kontor ([kɔnˈtoːr]) and Köter ([ˈkøːtɐ]) 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 75793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kontor is recorded at frequency rank #42,631, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɔnˈtoːr]. Köter is at rank #33,162, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːtɐ].

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 75793, this pair ranks #299,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kontor vs Köter

Shared letters: krt. Private to "kontor": no. Private to "Köter": eö.

"kontor" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Köter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kontor ← kkontor · knotor · konntor · konotr · kontorr · kontro · konttor · kotnor

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kontor" and "Köter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kɔnˈtoːr] versus [ˈkøːtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kontor" vs "Köter" - which ranks higher?
"Köter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,162 in our German list, against #42,631 for "kontor". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kontor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Köter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #299,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kontor" and "Köter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kontor vs Kontur". 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 #299,269 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