kotzvsKyotoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: kotz is a verb, Kyoto is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kotz” is a verb and “Kyoto” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,220
“kotz” frequency rank
#29,664
“Kyoto” frequency rank
63884
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kotz Kyoto
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kotzen japanische Stadt im Südwesten Honshus mit ca. 1,4 Millionen Einwohnern, Verwaltungssitz der gleichnamigen Präfektur

Where the eye mixes kotz and Kyoto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kotz runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Kyoto's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
kotz
5 ch
Kyoto

Look-alike desk: kotz vs Kyoto

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kotz is [kɔt͡s] while Kyoto is [kiˈoːto]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kotz is recorded at frequency rank #34,220, classified as averb, pronounced [kɔt͡s]. Kyoto is at rank #29,664, tagged as aname, pronounced [kiˈoːto].

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 63884, this pair ranks #660,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kotz vs Kyoto

Shared letters: kot. Private to "kotz": z. Private to "Kyoto": y.

"kotz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kyoto" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kotz ← kkotz · kotzz · kozt · ktoz · oktz
  • Kyoto ← kkyoto · koyto · kyoot · kyotto · kytoo · kyyoto · ykoto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kotz" for "Kyoto" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kotz" is a verb and "Kyoto" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "kotz" or "Kyoto" show up more?
"Kyoto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,664 in our German list, against #34,220 for "kotz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "kotz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kyoto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #660,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kotz" and "Kyoto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kola vs kotz". 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 #660,952 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list