German

Karte: the 22th-Most Reused Word in German

Karte: Das 22.-häufigste Wort im Deutschen

October 21, 2026

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Karte ("card (playing card, postcard, greeting card)", A1) is the 22th-most reused word-building block in this dictionary's compounds, appearing in 17 different words.

100% nouns

Of the 17 compounds built on Karte, 100% are nouns.

CEFR levels

  • A1 (3 entries): Fahrkarte (ticket (for a train, bus, or tram)), Postkarte (postcard), Speisekarte (menu).
  • A2 (8 entries): Ansichtskarte (postcard), Einladungskarte (invitation card), Eintrittskarte (entrance ticket), Getränkekarte (drinks menu), Glückwunschkarte (greetings card), Kartenspiel (card game), Kreditkarte (credit card), Straßenkarte (street map, road map).
  • B1 (5 entries): Grafikkarte (graphics card), Rückfahrkarte (return ticket), Sammelkarte (collectible card, trading card), Wanderkarte (hiking map), Weltkarte (world map).
  • C1 (1 entries): Antwortkarte (reply card).

Grouping by meaning, not just difficulty

Looking at the same 17 compounds by what KIND of thing each one names, rather than how hard it is, splits them into 6 groups:

  1. A ticket for travel or entry3
  2. A greeting or correspondence card5
  3. A map3
  4. A menu2
  5. A payment card or computer part2
  6. A playing or collectible card2
  • A ticket for travel or entry (3): Eintrittskarte, Fahrkarte, Rückfahrkarte.
  • A greeting or correspondence card (5): Ansichtskarte, Antwortkarte, Einladungskarte, Glückwunschkarte, Postkarte.
  • A map (3): Straßenkarte, Wanderkarte, Weltkarte.
  • A menu (2): Getränkekarte, Speisekarte.
  • A payment card or computer part (2): Grafikkarte, Kreditkarte.
  • A playing or collectible card (2): Kartenspiel, Sammelkarte.

Karte spreads across six genuinely different senses here, more than almost any other word in this series -- English card has a similarly wide spread (playing card, credit card, greeting card), so the ambiguity is not unique to German.

Test yourself: grouping by meaning

Which group does each word belong to?

1 Where does Eintrittskarte belong?

2 Where does Fahrkarte belong?

3 Where does Rückfahrkarte belong?

4 Where does Ansichtskarte belong?

5 Where does Antwortkarte belong?

6 Where does Einladungskarte belong?

7 Where does Glückwunschkarte belong?

8 Where does Postkarte belong?

9 Where does Straßenkarte belong?

10 Where does Wanderkarte belong?

11 Where does Weltkarte belong?

12 Where does Getränkekarte belong?

13 Where does Speisekarte belong?

14 Where does Grafikkarte belong?

15 Where does Kreditkarte belong?

16 Where does Kartenspiel belong?

17 Where does Sammelkarte belong?

Polydi the frog

Meet Polydi

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