KehlevsKellerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,268
“Kehle” frequency rank
#2,208
“Keller” frequency rank
13476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kehle Keller
Definition unter dem Kinn gelegener Teil des Halses; Bezeichnung für Luftröhre oder Speiseröhre unterirdischer Vorratsraum

Where the eye mixes Kehle and Keller

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kehle runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Keller's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Kehle
6 ch
Keller

Visual trap between Kehle and Keller

A purely visual mix-up. Kehle ([ˈkeːlə]) and Keller ([ˈkɛlɐ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13476, 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]. Keller is at rank #2,208, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛlɐ].

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 13476, this pair ranks #1,957,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kehle vs Keller

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Kehle": h. Private to "Keller": r.

"Kehle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Keller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kehle ← ekhle · kehel · kehhle · kehlle · kelhe · khele · kkehle
  • Keller ← ekller · kelelr · keler · kellerr · kellre · kkeller · kleler

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kehle" for "Keller" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkeːlə] versus [ˈkɛlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kehle" vs "Keller" - which ranks higher?
"Keller" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,208 in our German list, against #11,268 for "Kehle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Kehle" and "Keller" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kehle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Keller" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,957,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kehle" and "Keller" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kehle 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 #1,957,745 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