KorkvsKursTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,297
“Kork” frequency rank
#1,894
“Kurs” frequency rank
45191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kork Kurs
Definition 2,5 bis 20 cm dicke Rinde der Korkeiche (quercus suber), aus lückenlos aneinander schließenden Zellen, die für Flüssigkeiten und Gase schwer durchlässig sind eine eingeschlagene, vorgeschriebene oder aufgezeichnete Richtung einer Person, eines Fahrzeuges, eines Flugzeugs oder eines Schiffes

Where the eye mixes Kork and Kurs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Kork and Kurs follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
Kork
4 ch
Kurs

Why the eye confuses Kork with Kurs

A purely visual mix-up. Kork ([kɔʁk]) and Kurs ([kʊʁs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kork is recorded at frequency rank #43,297, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɔʁk]. Kurs is at rank #1,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʊʁs].

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 45191, this pair ranks #1,361,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kork vs Kurs

Shared letters: kr. Private to "Kork": o. Private to "Kurs": su.

"Kork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kurs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kork ← kkork · kokr · korkk · korrk · krok · okrk
  • Kurs ← kkurs · krus · kurrs · kurss · kusr · ukrs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kork" and "Kurs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kɔʁk] versus [kʊʁs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kork" vs "Kurs" - which ranks higher?
"Kurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,894 in our German list, against #43,297 for "Kork". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kork" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,361,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kork" and "Kurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kola vs Kork". 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 #1,361,407 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