Which to use
“kostenlos” and “kostenloses” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,517
- “kostenlos” frequency rank
- #12,524
- “kostenloses” frequency rank
- 14041
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kostenlos | kostenloses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht mit Kosten verbunden | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kostenlos |
Where the eye mixes kostenlos and kostenloses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. kostenlos runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against kostenloses's 11 (CVCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kostenlos and kostenloses
A purely visual mix-up. kostenlos ([ˈkɔstn̩loːs]) and kostenloses ([ˈkɔstn̩loːzəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “kostenlos” sits inside “kostenloses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kostenlos is recorded at frequency rank #1,517, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔstn̩loːs]. kostenloses is at rank #12,524, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔstn̩loːzəs].
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 14041, this pair ranks #1,953,970 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kostenlos vs kostenloses
Shared letters: eklnost. Private to "kostenlos": -. Private to "kostenloses": -.
"kostenlos" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "kostenloses" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kostenlos ← kkostenlos · kosetnlos · kosstenlos · kostelnos · kostenllos · kostenloss · kostenlso · kostennlos
- kostenloses ← kkostenloses · kosetnloses · kosstenloses · kostelnoses · kostenlloses · kostenloess · kostenlosess · kostenlosses
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kostenlos" and "kostenloses" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "kostenlos" or "kostenloses"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kostenlos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kostenloses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,953,970 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kostenlos" and "kostenloses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kostenloser vs kostenloses". 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 #1,953,970 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.