KursvsKursesTell them apart

Which to use

“Kurs” and “Kurses” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,894
“Kurs” frequency rank
#26,493
“Kurses” frequency rank
28387
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kurs Kurses
Definition eine eingeschlagene, vorgeschriebene oder aufgezeichnete Richtung einer Person, eines Fahrzeuges, eines Flugzeugs oder eines Schiffes Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Kurs

Where the eye mixes Kurs and Kurses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Kurs
6 ch
Kurses

Visual trap between Kurs and Kurses

A purely visual mix-up. Kurs ([kʊʁs]) and Kurses ([ˈkʊʁzəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Kurs” sits inside “Kurses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28387, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kurs is recorded at frequency rank #1,894, classified as anoun, pronounced [kʊʁs]. Kurses is at rank #26,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʊʁzəs].

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 28387, this pair ranks #1,785,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kurs vs Kurses

Shared letters: krsu. Private to "Kurs": -. Private to "Kurses": e.

"Kurs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kurses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kurskkurs · krus · kurrs · kurss · kusr · ukrs
  • Kurseskkurses · kruses · kuress · kurrses · kursess · kursses · kusres · ukrses

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kurs" for "Kurses" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kʊʁs] versus [ˈkʊʁzəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kurs" or "Kurses"?
"Kurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,894 in our German list, against #26,493 for "Kurses". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Kurs" and "Kurses" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kurses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,785,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kurs" and "Kurses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kurses vs kursiv". 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 #1,785,686 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