Which to use
“kratzen” is a verb and “Kratzer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,138
- “kratzen” frequency rank
- #14,110
- “Kratzer” frequency rank
- 29248
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kratzen | Kratzer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich mit den Fingernägeln, Krallen oder ähnlichen spitzen, scharfen Dingen, die dazu geeignet sind, einen Abrieb zu verursachen, schaben | kleine bis mittelgroße Wunde oder Beschädigung, die durch bewegte Berührung mit einem spitzen Gegenstand hervorgerufen wurde |
Where the eye mixes kratzen and Kratzer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. kratzen and Kratzer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: kratzen vs Kratzer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kratzen is [ˈkʁat͡sn̩] while Kratzer is [ˈkʁat͡sɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “kratzen” becomes r in “Kratzer”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kratzen is recorded at frequency rank #15,138, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁat͡sn̩]. Kratzer is at rank #14,110, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁat͡sɐ].
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 29248, this pair ranks #1,770,373 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kratzen vs Kratzer
Shared letters: aekrtz. Private to "kratzen": n. Private to "Kratzer": -.
"kratzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "Kratzer" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kratzen" for "Kratzer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kratzen" vs "Kratzer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kratzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kratzer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,770,373 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kratzen" and "Kratzer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krätze vs kratzen". 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 #1,770,373 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.