KältevsKräfteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,974
“Kälte” frequency rank
#2,663
“Kräfte” frequency rank
8637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kälte Kräfte
Definition niedrige Temperatur Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kraft

Where the eye mixes Kälte and Kräfte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Kälte
6 ch
Kräfte

Why the eye confuses Kälte with Kräfte

A purely visual mix-up. Kälte ([ˈkɛltə]) and Kräfte ([ˈkʁɛftə]) 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 8637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kälte is recorded at frequency rank #5,974, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛltə]. Kräfte is at rank #2,663, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁɛftə].

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 8637, this pair ranks #1,983,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kälte vs Kräfte

Shared letters: ektä. Private to "Kälte": l. Private to "Kräfte": fr.

"Kälte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kräfte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kälte" for "Kräfte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛltə] versus [ˈkʁɛftə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kälte" or "Kräfte"?
"Kräfte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,663 in our German list, against #5,974 for "Kälte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Kälte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kräfte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,983,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kälte" and "Kräfte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kälte vs Kölle". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,983,483 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