kostbarevskostbarenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,671
“kostbare” frequency rank
#26,075
“kostbaren” frequency rank
47746
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kostbare kostbaren
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kostbar Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kostbar

Where the eye mixes kostbare and kostbaren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. kostbare runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against kostbaren's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
kostbare
9 ch
kostbaren

Look-alike desk: kostbare vs kostbaren

A purely visual mix-up. kostbare ([ˈkɔstbaːʁə]) and kostbaren ([ˈkɔstbaːʁən]) 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 extra letter(s) - “kostbare” sits inside “kostbaren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kostbare is recorded at frequency rank #21,671, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔstbaːʁə]. kostbaren is at rank #26,075, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔstbaːʁən].

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 47746, this pair ranks #1,273,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kostbare vs kostbaren

Shared letters: abekorst. Private to "kostbare": -. Private to "kostbaren": n.

"kostbare" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "kostbaren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kostbare ← kkostbare · kosbtare · kosstbare · kostabre · kostbaer · kostbarre · kostbbare · kostbrae
  • kostbaren ← kkostbaren · kosbtaren · kosstbaren · kostabren · kostbaern · kostbarenn · kostbarne · kostbarren

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kostbare" and "kostbaren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɔstbaːʁə] versus [ˈkɔstbaːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kostbare" or "kostbaren"?
"kostbare" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,671 in our German list, against #26,075 for "kostbaren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kostbare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kostbaren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,273,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kostbare" and "kostbaren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kostbar vs kostbaren". 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 #1,273,565 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