KabelvsKäseConfusable pair

Which to use

“Kabel” and “Käse” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,975
“Kabel” frequency rank
#3,754
“Käse” frequency rank
7729
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kabel Käse
Definition isolierte Leitung zum Transport elektrischen Stroms beziehungsweise elektronischer Nachrichten ein festes Milchprodukt

Where the eye mixes Kabel and Käse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Kabel
4 ch
Käse

Look-alike desk: Kabel vs Käse

A purely visual mix-up. Kabel ([ˈkaːbl̩]) and Käse ([ˈkɛːzə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7729, 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]. Käse is at rank #3,754, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛːzə].

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 7729, this pair ranks #1,987,115 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kabel vs Käse

Shared letters: ek. Private to "Kabel": abl. Private to "Käse": .

"Kabel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Käse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kabelakbel · kabbel · kabell · kable · kaebl · kbael · kkabel

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kabel" and "Käse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaːbl̩] versus [ˈkɛːzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kabel" or "Käse" show up more?
"Käse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,754 in our German list, against #3,975 for "Kabel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kabel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Käse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,987,115 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kabel" and "Käse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs Käse". 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 #1,987,115 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