KursenvsKursesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,139
“Kursen” frequency rank
#26,493
“Kurses” frequency rank
41632
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kursen Kurses
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kurs Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Kurs

Where the eye mixes Kursen and Kurses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kursen and Kurses follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Kursen
6 ch
Kurses

Look-alike desk: Kursen vs Kurses

A purely visual mix-up. Kursen ([ˈkʊʁzn̩]) 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 a single letter - n in “Kursen” becomes s in “Kurses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kursen is recorded at frequency rank #15,139, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʊʁzn̩]. 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 41632, this pair ranks #1,473,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kursen vs Kurses

Shared letters: ekrsu. Private to "Kursen": n. Private to "Kurses": -.

"Kursen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Kurses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kursenkkursen · krusen · kuresn · kurrsen · kursenn · kursne · kurssen · kusren
  • Kurseskkurses · kruses · kuress · kurrses · kursess · kursses · kusres · ukrses

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kursen" and "Kurses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʊʁzn̩] versus [ˈkʊʁzəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kursen" or "Kurses"?
"Kursen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,139 in our German list, against #26,493 for "Kurses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kursen" 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 #1,473,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kursen" 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 #1,473,622 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