KapselvsKesselTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,405
“Kapsel” frequency rank
#10,882
“Kessel” frequency rank
26287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kapsel Kessel
Definition kleines, meist rundes oder ovales Behältnis großes metallisches offenes Gefäß

Where the eye mixes Kapsel and Kessel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kapsel and Kessel follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Kapsel
6 ch
Kessel

Visual trap between Kapsel and Kessel

A purely visual mix-up. Kapsel ([ˈkapsl̩]) and Kessel ([ˈkɛsl̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kapsel is recorded at frequency rank #15,405, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkapsl̩]. Kessel is at rank #10,882, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛsl̩].

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 26287, this pair ranks #1,820,406 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kapsel vs Kessel

Shared letters: ekls. Private to "Kapsel": ap. Private to "Kessel": -.

"Kapsel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Kessel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kapsel ← akpsel · kapesl · kappsel · kapsell · kapsle · kapssel · kaspel · kkapsel
  • Kessel ← ekssel · kesel · kesesl · kessell · kessle · keßel · kkessel · ksesel

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kapsel" for "Kessel" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkapsl̩] versus [ˈkɛsl̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kapsel" or "Kessel" show up more?
"Kessel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,882 in our German list, against #15,405 for "Kapsel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kapsel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kessel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,820,406 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kapsel" and "Kessel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kandel vs Kapsel". 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 #1,820,406 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