Which to use
“koste” is a verb and “Küsse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,800
- “koste” frequency rank
- #13,420
- “Küsse” frequency rank
- 36220
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | koste | Küsse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kosen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kuss |
Where the eye mixes koste and Küsse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. koste and Küsse follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: koste vs Küsse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: koste is [ˈkoːstə] while Küsse is [ˈkʏsə]. 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 36220, 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]. Küsse is at rank #13,420, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʏsə].
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 36220, this pair ranks #1,621,076 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of koste vs Küsse
Shared letters: eks. Private to "koste": ot. Private to "Küsse": ü.
"koste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Küsse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- koste ← kkoste · koset · kosste · kotse · ksote · okste
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "koste" for "Küsse" ever safe?
Which is more common, "koste" or "Küsse"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "koste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Küsse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,621,076 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "koste" and "Küsse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kölle vs koste". 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 #1,621,076 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.