Which to use
“kahle” and “kahlen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,138
- “kahle” frequency rank
- #29,185
- “kahlen” frequency rank
- 62323
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kahle | kahlen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kahl | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kahl |
Where the eye mixes kahle and kahlen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. kahle runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against kahlen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: kahle vs kahlen
A purely visual mix-up. kahle ([ˈkaːlə]) and kahlen ([ˈkaːlən]) 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 extra letter(s) - “kahle” sits inside “kahlen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kahle is recorded at frequency rank #33,138, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkaːlə]. kahlen is at rank #29,185, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkaːlən].
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 62323, this pair ranks #717,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kahle vs kahlen
Shared letters: aehkl. Private to "kahle": -. Private to "kahlen": n.
"kahle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "kahlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kahle" and "kahlen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "kahle" or "kahlen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kahle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kahlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #717,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kahle" and "kahlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kahle vs Kölle". 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 #717,146 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.