KursvsküsstWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,894
“Kurs” frequency rank
#14,855
“küsst” frequency rank
16749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kurs küsst
Definition eine eingeschlagene, vorgeschriebene oder aufgezeichnete Richtung einer Person, eines Fahrzeuges, eines Flugzeugs oder eines Schiffes 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs küssen

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
Kurs
5 ch
küsst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kurs is [kʊʁs] while küsst is [kʏst]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16749, 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]. küsst is at rank #14,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [kʏst].

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 16749, this pair ranks #1,933,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kurs vs küsst

Shared letters: ks. Private to "Kurs": ru. Private to "küsst": .

"Kurs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "küsst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kurskkurs · krus · kurrs · kurss · kusr · ukrs

Frequency comparison

Kurs#1,894
küsst#14,855

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kurs" and "küsst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kurs" is a noun and "küsst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kurs" or "küsst"?
"Kurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,894 in our German list, against #14,855 for "küsst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Kurs vs küsst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Kurs”; for a verb, it's “küsst”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Kurs” 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