KammvskrummWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Kamm is a noun, krumm is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#13,872
“Kamm” frequency rank
#24,416
“krumm” frequency rank
38288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kamm krumm
Definition Gerät mit aneinandergereihten Zinken zum Ausrichten und Säubern von Haaren nicht gerade, sondern mit einer oder mehreren bogenförmigen Abweichungen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Kamm and krumm apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Kamm
5 ch
krumm

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kamm is [kam] while krumm is [kʁʊm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kamm is recorded at frequency rank #13,872, classified as anoun, pronounced [kam]. krumm is at rank #24,416, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kʁʊm].

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 38288, this pair ranks #1,567,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kamm vs krumm

Shared letters: km. Private to "Kamm": a. Private to "krumm": ru.

"Kamm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "krumm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kammakmm · kkamm · kmam
  • krummkkrumm · krmum · krrumm · krum · kurmm · rkumm

Frequency comparison

Kamm#13,872
krumm#24,416

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kamm" and "krumm" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kamm" is a noun and "krumm" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kamm" or "krumm"?
"Kamm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,872 in our German list, against #24,416 for "krumm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Kamm vs krumm

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Kamm”; for an adjective, it's “krumm”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Kamm” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list