KoppvskostTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#13,188
“Kopp” frequency rank
#13,418
“kost” frequency rank
26606
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kopp kost
Definition nieder- und mitteldeutsch für Kopf, in Zusammensetzungen häufig Bestandteil von Schimpfwörtern sowie für Ober und Unter im deutschen Kartenblatt 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kosen

Where the eye mixes Kopp and kost

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

4 ch
Kopp
4 ch
kost

Look-alike desk: Kopp vs kost

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kopp is [kɔp] while kost is [koːst]. 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 26606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kopp is recorded at frequency rank #13,188, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɔp]. kost is at rank #13,418, tagged as averb, pronounced [koːst].

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 26606, this pair ranks #1,815,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kopp vs kost

Shared letters: ko. Private to "Kopp": p. Private to "kost": st.

"Kopp" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Koppkkopp · kop · kpop · okpp
  • kostkkost · kosst · kostt · kots · ksot · okst

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kopp" for "kost" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kopp" is a noun and "kost" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Kopp" vs "kost" - which ranks higher?
"Kopp" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,188 in our German list, against #13,418 for "kost". 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 "Kopp" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kost" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,815,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kopp" and "kost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kost vs krönt". 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 #1,815,444 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