KopievskosteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,317
“Kopie” frequency rank
#22,800
“koste” frequency rank
29117
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kopie koste
Definition Nachbildung/Wiedergabe eines Originals 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kosen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Kopie and koste apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Kopie
5 ch
koste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kopie is [koˈpiː] while koste is [ˈkoːstə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kopie is recorded at frequency rank #6,317, classified as anoun, pronounced [koˈpiː]. koste is at rank #22,800, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkoːstə].

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 29117, this pair ranks #1,772,714 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kopie vs koste

Shared letters: eko. Private to "Kopie": ip. Private to "koste": st.

"Kopie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "koste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kopiekkopie · koipe · kopei · koppie · kpoie · okpie
  • kostekkoste · koset · kosste · kotse · ksote · okste

Frequency comparison

Kopie#6,317
koste#22,800

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kopie" and "koste" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kopie" is a noun and "koste" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kopie" or "koste"?
"Kopie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,317 in our German list, against #22,800 for "koste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Kopie vs koste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Kopie”; for a verb, it's “koste”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Kopie” 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