Which to use
“kurzem” is an adjective and “kürzt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,733
- “kurzem” frequency rank
- #44,034
- “kürzt” frequency rank
- 46767
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kurzem | kürzt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs kurz | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kürzen |
Where the eye mixes kurzem and kürzt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kurzem runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against kürzt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kurzem and kürzt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kurzem is [ˈkʊʁt͡sm̩] while kürzt is [kʏʁt͡st]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kurzem is recorded at frequency rank #2,733, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʊʁt͡sm̩]. kürzt is at rank #44,034, tagged as averb, pronounced [kʏʁt͡st].
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 46767, this pair ranks #1,307,737 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kurzem vs kürzt
Shared letters: krz. Private to "kurzem": emu. Private to "kürzt": tü.
"kurzem" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "kürzt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kurzem ← kkurzem · kruzem · kurezm · kurrzem · kurzemm · kurzme · kurzzem · kuzrem
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kurzem" for "kürzt" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kurzem" vs "kürzt" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "kurzem" and "kürzt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kurzem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kürzt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,307,737 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kurzem" and "kürzt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kurie vs kürzt". 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 #1,307,737 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.