KrusevsKrusteTell them apart

Quick tell: Kruse is a name, Kruste is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kruse” is a name and “Kruste” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,112
“Kruse” frequency rank
#28,280
“Kruste” frequency rank
42392
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kruse Kruste
Definition niederdeutscher Familienname, Nachname feste, harte Schicht auf einem weichen Körper

Where the eye mixes Kruse and Kruste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kruse runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against Kruste's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Kruse
6 ch
Kruste

Why the eye confuses Kruse with Kruste

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kruse is [ˈkʁuːzə] while Kruste is [ˈkʁʊstə]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kruse is recorded at frequency rank #14,112, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈkʁuːzə]. Kruste is at rank #28,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁʊstə].

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 42392, this pair ranks #1,450,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kruse vs Kruste

Shared letters: ekrsu. Private to "Kruse": -. Private to "Kruste": t.

"Kruse" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Kruste" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kruse ← kkruse · krruse · krsue · krues · krusse · rkuse
  • Kruste ← kkruste · krruste · krsute · kruset · krusste · krustte · krutse · kurste

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kruse" and "Kruste" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kruse" is a name and "Kruste" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Kruse" or "Kruste" show up more?
"Kruse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,112 in our German list, against #28,280 for "Kruste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kruse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kruste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,450,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kruse" and "Kruste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kroate vs Kruste". 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 #1,450,810 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