kamvsKloConfusable pair

Quick tell: kam is a verb, Klo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kam” is a verb and “Klo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#274
“kam” frequency rank
#6,211
“Klo” frequency rank
6485
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kam Klo
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kommen Toilette

Where the eye mixes kam and Klo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
kam
3 ch
Klo

Visual trap between kam and Klo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kam is [kaːm] while Klo is [kloː]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6485, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kam is recorded at frequency rank #274, classified as averb, pronounced [kaːm]. Klo is at rank #6,211, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kloː].

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 6485, this pair ranks #1,991,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kam vs Klo

Shared letters: k. Private to "kam": am. Private to "Klo": lo.

"kam" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Klo" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kam" and "Klo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kam" is a verb and "Klo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "kam" vs "Klo" - which ranks higher?
"kam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #274 in our German list, against #6,211 for "Klo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "kam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Klo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,991,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kam" and "Klo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Klo vs kola". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,991,484 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