KegelvskegelnConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#18,597
“Kegel” frequency rank
#41,275
“kegeln” frequency rank
59872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kegel kegeln
Definition Körper mit Kreisscheibe als Basis, in einer Spitze auslaufend einer Sportart nachgehen, bei der man am Ende einer Bahn aufgestellte Kegel mit einer Kugel umwerfen muss

Where the eye mixes Kegel and kegeln

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kegel runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against kegeln's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Kegel
6 ch
kegeln

Visual trap between Kegel and kegeln

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kegel is [ˈkeːɡl̩] while kegeln is [ˈkeːɡl̩n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Kegel” sits inside “kegeln”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kegel is recorded at frequency rank #18,597, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkeːɡl̩]. kegeln is at rank #41,275, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkeːɡl̩n].

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 59872, this pair ranks #808,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kegel vs kegeln

Shared letters: egkl. Private to "Kegel": -. Private to "kegeln": n.

"Kegel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "kegeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kegelekgel · keegl · kegell · keggel · kegle · kgeel · kkegel
  • kegelnekgeln · keegln · kegelln · kegelnn · kegenl · keggeln · keglen · kgeeln

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kegel" and "kegeln" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kegel" is a noun and "kegeln" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kegel" or "kegeln"?
"Kegel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,597 in our German list, against #41,275 for "kegeln". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kegel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kegeln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #808,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kegel" and "kegeln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kabeln vs kegeln". 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 #808,211 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