ChlorvsChurTell them apart

Quick tell: Chlor is a noun, Chur is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Chlor” is a noun and “Chur” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,667
“Chlor” frequency rank
#19,178
“Chur” frequency rank
41845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Chlor Chur
Definition chemisches Element mit der Ordnungszahl 17 Hauptort des Schweizer Kantons Graubünden

Where the eye mixes Chlor and Chur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Chlor
4 ch
Chur

Why the eye confuses Chlor with Chur

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Chlor is [kloːɐ̯] while Chur is [kuːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Chlor is recorded at frequency rank #22,667, classified as anoun, pronounced [kloːɐ̯]. Chur is at rank #19,178, tagged as aname, pronounced [kuːɐ̯].

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 41845, this pair ranks #1,467,343 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Chlor vs Chur

Shared letters: chr. Private to "Chlor": lo. Private to "Chur": u.

"Chlor" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC  ·  "Chur" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Chlorcchlor · chhlor · chllor · chlorr · chlro · cholr · clhor · hclor
  • Churcchur · chhur · chru · churr · cuhr · hcur

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Chlor" for "Chur" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Chlor" is a noun and "Chur" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Chlor" vs "Chur" - which ranks higher?
"Chur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,178 in our German list, against #22,667 for "Chlor". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Chlor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Chur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,467,343 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Chlor" and "Chur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Chlor vs Chlorid". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,467,343 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