KanälenvsKanalsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,873
“Kanälen” frequency rank
#20,970
“Kanals” frequency rank
34843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kanälen Kanals
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kanal Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Kanal

Where the eye mixes Kanälen and Kanals

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

7 ch
Kanälen
6 ch
Kanals

Why the eye confuses Kanälen with Kanals

A purely visual mix-up. Kanälen ([kaˈnɛːlən]) and Kanals ([kaˈnaːls]) 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 34843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kanälen is recorded at frequency rank #13,873, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈnɛːlən]. Kanals is at rank #20,970, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈnaːls].

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 34843, this pair ranks #1,654,021 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kanälen vs Kanals

Shared letters: akln. Private to "Kanälen": . Private to "Kanals": s.

"Kanälen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "Kanals" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kanalsaknals · kaanls · kanalls · kanalss · kanasl · kanlas · kannals · kkanals

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kanälen" for "Kanals" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈnɛːlən] versus [kaˈnaːls]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kanälen" or "Kanals" show up more?
"Kanälen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,873 in our German list, against #20,970 for "Kanals". 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 "Kanälen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kanals" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,654,021 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kanälen" and "Kanals" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kanals vs Knaus". 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 #1,654,021 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