KursvskursivWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#1,894
“Kurs” frequency rank
#46,094
“kursiv” frequency rank
47988
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kurs kursiv
Definition eine eingeschlagene, vorgeschriebene oder aufgezeichnete Richtung einer Person, eines Fahrzeuges, eines Flugzeugs oder eines Schiffes schräg, meist nach rechts geneigt

Where the eye mixes Kurs and kursiv

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kurs runs 4 letters (CVCC) against kursiv's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Kurs
6 ch
kursiv

Visual trap between Kurs and kursiv

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kurs is [kʊʁs] while kursiv is [kʊʁˈziːf]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Kurs” sits inside “kursiv”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47988, 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]. kursiv is at rank #46,094, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kʊʁˈziːf].

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 47988, this pair ranks #1,264,855 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kurs vs kursiv

Shared letters: krsu. Private to "Kurs": -. Private to "kursiv": iv.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kurs ← kkurs · krus · kurrs · kurss · kusr · ukrs
  • kursiv ← kkursiv · krusiv · kurisv · kurrsiv · kursivv · kurssiv · kursvi · kusriv

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kurs" and "kursiv" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kurs" is a noun and "kursiv" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Kurs" vs "kursiv" - which ranks higher?
"Kurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,894 in our German list, against #46,094 for "kursiv". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Kurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kursiv" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,264,855 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kurs" and "kursiv" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kurie 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 #1,264,855 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