kostevsKröteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#22,800
“koste” frequency rank
#33,158
“Kröte” frequency rank
55958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature koste Kröte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kosen dem Frosch ähnliche, kurzbeinige, springende Amphibie mit plumpem Körper und warzenbedeckter, Giftstoffe absondernder Haut

Where the eye mixes koste and Kröte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. koste (CVCCV) and Kröte (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
koste
5 ch
Kröte

Visual trap between koste and Kröte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: koste is [ˈkoːstə] while Kröte is [ˈkʁøːtə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

koste is recorded at frequency rank #22,800, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkoːstə]. Kröte is at rank #33,158, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁøːtə].

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 55958, this pair ranks #959,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of koste vs Kröte

Shared letters: ekt. Private to "koste": os. Private to "Kröte": rö.

"koste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kröte" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • koste ← kkoste · koset · kosste · kotse · ksote · okste

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "koste" and "Kröte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "koste" is a verb and "Kröte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "koste" vs "Kröte" - which ranks higher?
"koste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,800 in our German list, against #33,158 for "Kröte". 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 "koste" and "Kröte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "koste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kröte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #959,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "koste" and "Kröte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "krönt vs Kröte". 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 #959,098 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