kürzenvsKüstenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: kürzen is a verb, Küsten is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kürzen” is a verb and “Küsten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,680
“kürzen” frequency rank
#14,856
“Küsten” frequency rank
30536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kürzen Küsten
Definition kürzer machen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Küste

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kürzen and Küsten apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
kürzen
6 ch
Küsten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kürzen is [ˈkʏʁt͡sn̩] while Küsten is [ˈkʏstn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30536, 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]. Küsten is at rank #14,856, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʏstn̩].

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 30536, this pair ranks #1,745,919 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kürzen vs Küsten

Shared letters: eknü. Private to "kürzen": rz. Private to "Küsten": st.

"kürzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Küsten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

kürzen#15,680
Küsten#14,856

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kürzen" and "Küsten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kürzen" is a verb and "Küsten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kürzen" or "Küsten"?
"Küsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,856 in our German list, against #15,680 for "kürzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kürzen vs Küsten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “kürzen”; for a noun, it's “Küsten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kürzen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list