Which to use
“kürten” and “küssen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,491
- “kürten” frequency rank
- #6,445
- “küssen” frequency rank
- 45936
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kürten | küssen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs küren | mit den Lippen eine andere Person oder einen Gegenstand berühren, zum Zeichen der Liebe oder Verehrung; einen Kuss geben |
Where the eye mixes kürten and küssen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kürten and küssen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: kürten vs küssen
A purely visual mix-up. kürten ([ˈkyːɐ̯tn̩]) and küssen ([ˈkʏsn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45936, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kürten is recorded at frequency rank #39,491, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkyːɐ̯tn̩]. küssen is at rank #6,445, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏsn̩].
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 45936, this pair ranks #1,336,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kürten vs küssen
Shared letters: eknü. Private to "kürten": rt. Private to "küssen": s.
"kürten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "küssen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kürten" for "küssen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kürten" or "küssen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "kürten" and "küssen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kürten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "küssen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,336,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kürten" and "küssen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kucken vs kürten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,336,121 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.