Which to use
“krass” is an adjective and “kratz” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,751
- “krass” frequency rank
- #39,484
- “kratz” frequency rank
- 43235
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | krass | kratz |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | extrem, besonders intensiv | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kratzen |
Where the eye mixes krass and kratz
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. krass and kratz follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between krass and kratz
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: krass is [kʁas] while kratz is [kʁat͡s]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
krass is recorded at frequency rank #3,751, classified as anadj, pronounced [kʁas]. kratz is at rank #39,484, tagged as averb, pronounced [kʁat͡s].
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 43235, this pair ranks #1,424,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of krass vs kratz
Shared letters: akr. Private to "krass": s. Private to "kratz": tz.
"krass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "kratz" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "krass" and "kratz" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "krass" or "kratz" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "krass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kratz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,424,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "krass" and "kratz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kratz vs Kroate". 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 #1,424,470 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.