Käse vs kläre, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,754
“Käse” frequency rank: #44,735
“kläre” frequency rank: 48489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Käse	kläre
Definition	ein festes Milchprodukt	1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs klären

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

Käse

5 ch

kläre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Käse is [ˈkɛːzə] while kläre is [ˈklɛːʁə]. 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 48489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Käse is recorded at frequency rank #3,754, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛːzə]. kläre is at rank #44,735, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈklɛːʁə].

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 48489, this pair ranks #1,246,732 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Käse vs kläre

Shared letters: ekä. Private to "Käse": s. Private to "kläre": lr.

"Käse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "kläre" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Frequency comparison

Käse#3,754

kläre#44,735

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Käse" and "kläre" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Käse" is a noun and "kläre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Käse" or "kläre"?

"Käse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,754 in our German list, against #44,735 for "kläre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Käse vs kläre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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