Which to use
“Kabel” is a noun and “kabeln” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,975
- “Kabel” frequency rank
- #38,215
- “kabeln” frequency rank
- 42190
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kabel | kabeln |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | isolierte Leitung zum Transport elektrischen Stroms beziehungsweise elektronischer Nachrichten | eine Mitteilung über große Entfernungen telegrafisch übermitteln |
Where the eye mixes Kabel and kabeln
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kabel runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against kabeln's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Kabel with kabeln
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kabel is [ˈkaːbl̩] while kabeln is [ˈkaːbl̩n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Kabel” sits inside “kabeln”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kabel is recorded at frequency rank #3,975, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaːbl̩]. kabeln is at rank #38,215, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaːbl̩n].
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 42190, this pair ranks #1,456,872 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Kabel vs kabeln
Shared letters: abekl. Private to "Kabel": -. Private to "kabeln": n.
"Kabel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "kabeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Kabel" and "kabeln" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Kabel" vs "kabeln" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kabel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kabeln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,456,872 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kabel" and "kabeln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kabeln vs Kacheln". 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 #1,456,872 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.