Which to use
“koste” and “küsste” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,800
- “koste” frequency rank
- #24,811
- “küsste” frequency rank
- 47611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | koste | küsste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kosen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs küssen |
Where the eye mixes koste and küsste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. koste runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against küsste's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: koste vs küsste
A purely visual mix-up. koste ([ˈkoːstə]) and küsste ([ˈkʏstə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47611, 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]. küsste is at rank #24,811, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏstə].
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 47611, this pair ranks #1,278,284 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of koste vs küsste
Shared letters: ekst. Private to "koste": o. Private to "küsste": ü.
"koste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "küsste" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- koste ← kkoste · koset · kosste · kotse · ksote · okste
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "koste" for "küsste" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "koste" or "küsste" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "koste" and "küsste" 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 "küsste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,278,284 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "koste" and "küsste" 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 #1,278,284 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.