kaltervsKollerTell them apart

Quick tell: kalter is a adjective, Koller is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kalter” is an adjective and “Koller” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,047
“kalter” frequency rank
#21,667
“Koller” frequency rank
38714
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kalter Koller
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kalt plötzlich auftretende Wut

Where the eye mixes kalter and Koller

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

6 ch
kalter
6 ch
Koller

Look-alike desk: kalter vs Koller

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kalter is [ˈkaltɐ] while Koller is [ˈkɔlɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kalter is recorded at frequency rank #17,047, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkaltɐ]. Koller is at rank #21,667, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɔlɐ].

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 38714, this pair ranks #1,556,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kalter vs Koller

Shared letters: eklr. Private to "kalter": at. Private to "Koller": o.

"kalter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Koller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kalteraklter · kaletr · kallter · kalterr · kaltre · kaltter · katler · kkalter
  • Kollerkkoller · kloler · kolelr · koler · kollerr · kollre · okller

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kalter" for "Koller" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kalter" is an adjective and "Koller" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "kalter" vs "Koller" - which ranks higher?
"kalter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,047 in our German list, against #21,667 for "Koller". 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 "kalter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Koller" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,556,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kalter" and "Koller" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kölle vs Koller". 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 #1,556,589 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