Which to use
“kostete” is a verb and “Kostüme” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,754
- “kostete” frequency rank
- #10,315
- “Kostüme” frequency rank
- 20069
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kostete | Kostüme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kosten | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kostüm |
Where the eye mixes kostete and Kostüme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. kostete and Kostüme follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: kostete vs Kostüme
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kostete is [ˈkɔstətə] while Kostüme is [kɔsˈtyːmə]. 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 20069, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kostete is recorded at frequency rank #9,754, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɔstətə]. Kostüme is at rank #10,315, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɔsˈtyːmə].
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 20069, this pair ranks #1,901,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kostete vs Kostüme
Shared letters: ekost. Private to "kostete": -. Private to "Kostüme": mü.
"kostete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "Kostüme" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- kostete ← kkostete · kosette · kosstete · kosteet · kostette · kosttee · kosttete · kotsete
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kostete" and "Kostüme" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "kostete" or "Kostüme" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "kostete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kostüme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,901,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kostete" and "Kostüme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kostete vs kosteten". 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 #1,901,636 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.