kratzvsKretaTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#39,484
“kratz” frequency rank
#19,284
“Kreta” frequency rank
58768
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kratz Kreta
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kratzen griechische Insel im östlichen Mittelmeer

Where the eye mixes kratz and Kreta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kratz (CCVCC) and Kreta (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
kratz
5 ch
Kreta

Look-alike desk: kratz vs Kreta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kratz is [kʁat͡s] while Kreta is [ˈkʁeːta]. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kratz is recorded at frequency rank #39,484, classified as averb, pronounced [kʁat͡s]. Kreta is at rank #19,284, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈkʁeːta].

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 58768, this pair ranks #850,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kratz vs Kreta

Shared letters: akrt. Private to "kratz": z. Private to "Kreta": e.

"kratz" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Kreta" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kratzkartz · kkratz · kratzz · krazt · krratz · krtaz · rkatz
  • Kretakerta · kkreta · kreat · kretta · krreta · krtea · rketa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kratz" for "Kreta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kratz" is a verb and "Kreta" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "kratz" or "Kreta" show up more?
"Kreta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,284 in our German list, against #39,484 for "kratz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kratz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kreta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #850,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kratz" and "Kreta" 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 #850,070 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