Which to use
“koste” is a verb and “Küste” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,800
- “koste” frequency rank
- #3,978
- “Küste” frequency rank
- 26778
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | koste | Küste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kosen | Grenzsaum zwischen Land und Meer |
Where the eye mixes koste and Küste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: koste vs Küste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: koste is [ˈkoːstə] while Küste is [ˈkʏstə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - o in “koste” becomes ü in “Küste”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26778, 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]. Küste is at rank #3,978, tagged as anoun, 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 26778, this pair ranks #1,812,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of koste vs Küste
Shared letters: ekst. Private to "koste": o. Private to "Küste": ü.
"koste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Küste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- koste ← kkoste · koset · kosste · kotse · ksote · okste
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "koste" and "Küste" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "koste" or "Küste"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "koste" and "Küste" 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 "Küste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,812,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "koste" and "Küste" 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 #1,812,542 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.