Which to use
“kurz” and “kürzer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #331
- “kurz” frequency rank
- #6,947
- “kürzer” frequency rank
- 7278
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kurz | kürzer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wenig Länge habend | Prädikative und adverbielle Form des Komparativs des Adjektivs kurz |
Where the eye mixes kurz and kürzer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: kurz vs kürzer
A purely visual mix-up. kurz ([kʊʁt͡s]) and kürzer ([ˈkʏʁt͡sɐ]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7278, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kurz is recorded at frequency rank #331, classified as anadj, pronounced [kʊʁt͡s]. kürzer is at rank #6,947, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʏʁt͡sɐ].
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 7278, this pair ranks #1,988,764 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kurz vs kürzer
Shared letters: krz. Private to "kurz": u. Private to "kürzer": eü.
"kurz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kürzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kurz ← kkurz · kruz · kurrz · kurzz · kuzr · ukrz
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kurz" and "kürzer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "kurz" or "kürzer" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kurz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kürzer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,988,764 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kurz" and "kürzer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kürzer vs Kutter". 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 #1,988,764 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.