clvscollWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cl is a abbrev, coll is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cl” is an abbrev and “coll” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,252
“cl” frequency rank
#42,406
“coll” frequency rank
52658
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cl coll
Definition Zentiliter (= 0,01 l, 10⁻² l, ein hundertstel Liter) der Hals, das Genick

Letter map: cl vs coll

Shared letters muted; letters that set cl and coll apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

2 ch
cl
4 ch
coll

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cl is anabbrev and collanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cl is recorded at frequency rank #10,252, classified as anabbrev. coll is at rank #42,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɔʎ].

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 52658, this pair ranks #1,088,297 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cl vs coll

Shared letters: cl. Private to "cl": -. Private to "coll": o.

"cl" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "coll" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • collccoll · clol · ocll

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cl" and "coll" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cl" is an abbrev and "coll" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cl" or "coll"?
"cl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,252 in our German list, against #42,406 for "coll". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list