KarvskehrWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#40,626
“Kar” frequency rank
#36,440
“kehr” frequency rank
77066
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kar kehr
Definition kesselförmige Eintiefung an einem Berghang mit flachem Boden und steilen Rückwänden 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kehren

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Kar and kehr apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
Kar
4 ch
kehr

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kar is [kaːɐ̯] while kehr is [keːɐ̯]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kar is recorded at frequency rank #40,626, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaːɐ̯]. kehr is at rank #36,440, tagged as averb, pronounced [keːɐ̯].

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 77066, this pair ranks #269,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Kar vs kehr

Shared letters: kr. Private to "Kar": a. Private to "kehr": eh.

"Kar" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "kehr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kehrekhr · kehhr · kehrr · kerh · kher · kkehr

Frequency comparison

Kar#40,626
kehr#36,440

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kar" and "kehr" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kar" is a noun and "kehr" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kar" or "kehr"?
"kehr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,440 in our German list, against #40,626 for "Kar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Kar vs kehr

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Kar”; for a verb, it's “kehr”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Kar” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list