Which to use
“kürzen” is a verb and “kürzer” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,680
- “kürzen” frequency rank
- #6,947
- “kürzer” frequency rank
- 22627
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kürzen | kürzer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | kürzer machen | Prädikative und adverbielle Form des Komparativs des Adjektivs kurz |
Where the eye mixes kürzen and kürzer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. kürzen and kürzer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses kürzen with kürzer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kürzen is [ˈkʏʁt͡sn̩] while kürzer is [ˈkʏʁt͡sɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “kürzen” becomes r in “kürzer”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kürzen is recorded at frequency rank #15,680, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏʁt͡sn̩]. 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 22627, this pair ranks #1,871,821 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kürzen vs kürzer
Shared letters: ekrzü. Private to "kürzen": n. Private to "kürzer": -.
"kürzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "kürzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kürzen" for "kürzer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "kürzen" or "kürzer"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "kürzen" and "kürzer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kürzen" 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 #1,871,821 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kürzen" and "kürzer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kucken vs kürzen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,871,821 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.