kungvskurzWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: kung is a noun, kurz is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kung” is a noun and “kurz” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,408
“kung” frequency rank
#331
“kurz” frequency rank
22739
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kung kurz
Definition monarchisches Oberhaupt eines Königreichs; König wenig Länge habend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kung and kurz apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
kung
4 ch
kurz

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: kung is anoun and kurzanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kung is recorded at frequency rank #22,408, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. kurz is at rank #331, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kʊʁt͡s].

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 22739, this pair ranks #1,870,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kung vs kurz

Shared letters: ku. Private to "kung": gn. Private to "kurz": rz.

"kung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kurz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kungkkung · knug · kugn · kungg · kunng · ukng
  • kurzkkurz · kruz · kurrz · kurzz · kuzr · ukrz

Frequency comparison

kung#22,408
kurz#331

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kung" and "kurz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kung" is a noun and "kurz" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kung" or "kurz"?
"kurz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #331 in our German list, against #22,408 for "kung". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering kung vs kurz

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “kung”; for an adjective, it's “kurz”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kung” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list