KehlevsKelleWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,268
“Kehle” frequency rank
#36,441
“Kelle” frequency rank
47709
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kehle Kelle
Definition unter dem Kinn gelegener Teil des Halses; Bezeichnung für Luftröhre oder Speiseröhre ein Schöpflöffel

Where the eye mixes Kehle and Kelle

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

5 ch
Kehle
5 ch
Kelle

Look-alike desk: Kehle vs Kelle

A purely visual mix-up. Kehle ([ˈkeːlə]) and Kelle ([ˈkɛlə]) 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 a single letter - h in “Kehle” becomes l in “Kelle”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47709, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kehle is recorded at frequency rank #11,268, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkeːlə]. Kelle is at rank #36,441, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛlə].

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 47709, this pair ranks #1,274,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kehle vs Kelle

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Kehle": h. Private to "Kelle": -.

"Kehle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kelle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kehle ← ekhle · kehel · kehhle · kehlle · kelhe · khele · kkehle
  • Kelle ← eklle · kelel · kkelle · klele

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kehle" and "Kelle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkeːlə] versus [ˈkɛlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kehle" vs "Kelle" - which ranks higher?
"Kehle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,268 in our German list, against #36,441 for "Kelle". 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 "Kehle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kelle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,274,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kehle" and "Kelle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kelle vs Kölle". 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 #1,274,848 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