KrötenvskürtenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Kröten is a noun, kürten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kröten” is a noun and “kürten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,203
“Kröten” frequency rank
#39,491
“kürten” frequency rank
68694
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kröten kürten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kröte 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs küren

Where the eye mixes Kröten and kürten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kröten (CCVCVC) and kürten (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Kröten
6 ch
kürten

Visual trap between Kröten and kürten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kröten is [ˈkʁøːtn̩] while kürten is [ˈkyːɐ̯tn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kröten is recorded at frequency rank #29,203, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁøːtn̩]. kürten is at rank #39,491, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkyːɐ̯tn̩].

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 68694, this pair ranks #499,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Kröten vs kürten

Shared letters: eknrt. Private to "Kröten": ö. Private to "kürten": ü.

"Kröten" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "kürten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kröten" for "kürten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kröten" is a noun and "kürten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kröten" or "kürten"?
"Kröten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,203 in our German list, against #39,491 for "kürten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Kröten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kürten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #499,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kröten" and "kürten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kucken vs kürten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #499,834 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