KäfigvsKaminWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,344
“Käfig” frequency rank
#12,111
“Kamin” frequency rank
26455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Käfig Kamin
Definition Behälter oder Einrichtung, um Lebewesen gefangen zu halten, häufig mit einem Gitter versehen Feuerstelle in Wohnräumen, die zur Heizung und Beleuchtung dient

Where the eye mixes Käfig and Kamin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Käfig and Kamin follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Käfig
5 ch
Kamin

Visual trap between Käfig and Kamin

A purely visual mix-up. Käfig ([ˈkɛːfɪç]) and Kamin ([kaˈmiːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Käfig is recorded at frequency rank #14,344, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛːfɪç]. Kamin is at rank #12,111, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈmiːn].

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 26455, this pair ranks #1,817,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Käfig vs Kamin

Shared letters: ik. Private to "Käfig": fgä. Private to "Kamin": amn.

"Käfig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Kamin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kamin ← akmin · kaimn · kaminn · kammin · kamni · kkamin · kmain

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Käfig" and "Kamin" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛːfɪç] versus [kaˈmiːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Käfig" or "Kamin" show up more?
"Kamin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,111 in our German list, against #14,344 for "Käfig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Käfig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kamin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,817,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Käfig" and "Kamin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Käfig vs kantig". 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 #1,817,816 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