he'svsKölleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: he's is a abbrev, Kölle is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“he's” is an abbrev and “Kölle” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,620
“he's” frequency rank
#49,855
“Kölle” frequency rank
79475
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature he's Kölle
Definition he is: er ist deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set he's and Kölle apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
he's
5 ch
Kölle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: he's is anabbrev and Kölleaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

he's is recorded at frequency rank #29,620, classified as anabbrev, pronounced […]. Kölle is at rank #49,855, tagged as aname, pronounced […].

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 79475, this pair ranks #215,768 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of he's vs Kölle

Shared letters: e. Private to "he's": hs. Private to "Kölle": klö.

"he's" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Kölle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

he's#29,620
Kölle#49,855

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "he's" and "Kölle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "he's" is an abbrev and "Kölle" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "he's" or "Kölle"?
"he's" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,620 in our German list, against #49,855 for "Kölle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering he's vs Kölle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an abbrev, it's “he's”; for a name, it's “Kölle”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “he's” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list