küsstvsküssteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,855
“küsst” frequency rank
#24,811
“küsste” frequency rank
39666
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature küsst küsste
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs küssen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs küssen

Where the eye mixes küsst and küsste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. küsst runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against küsste's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
küsst
6 ch
küsste

Visual trap between küsst and küsste

A purely visual mix-up. küsst ([kʏst]) and küsste ([ˈkʏstə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “küsst” sits inside “küsste”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

küsst is recorded at frequency rank #14,855, classified as averb, pronounced [kʏst]. küsste is at rank #24,811, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏstə].

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 39666, this pair ranks #1,530,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of küsst vs küsste

Shared letters: kstü. Private to "küsst": -. Private to "küsste": e.

"küsst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "küsste" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "küsst" and "küsste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kʏst] versus [ˈkʏstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "küsst" vs "küsste" - which ranks higher?
"küsst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,855 in our German list, against #24,811 for "küsste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "küsst" and "küsste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "küsst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "küsste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,530,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "küsst" and "küsste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kaste vs küsste". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,530,326 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