kürztvsküsstWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“kürzt” and “küsst” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,034
“kürzt” frequency rank
#14,855
“küsst” frequency rank
58889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kürzt küsst
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kürzen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs küssen

Where the eye mixes kürzt and küsst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kürzt and küsst follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
kürzt
5 ch
küsst

Why the eye confuses kürzt with küsst

A purely visual mix-up. kürzt ([kʏʁt͡st]) and küsst ([kʏst]) 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 58889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kürzt is recorded at frequency rank #44,034, classified as averb, pronounced [kʏʁt͡st]. küsst is at rank #14,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [kʏst].

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 58889, this pair ranks #845,449 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kürzt vs küsst

Shared letters: ktü. Private to "kürzt": rz. Private to "küsst": s.

"kürzt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "küsst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kürzt" and "küsst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kʏʁt͡st] versus [kʏst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kürzt" vs "küsst" - which ranks higher?
"küsst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,855 in our German list, against #44,034 for "kürzt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kürzt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "küsst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #845,449 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kürzt" and "küsst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kurie vs kürzt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #845,449 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list