kehrvsKüheWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,440
“kehr” frequency rank
#8,584
“Kühe” frequency rank
45024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kehr Kühe
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kehren Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kuh

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
kehr
4 ch
Kühe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kehr is [keːɐ̯] while Kühe is [ˈkyːə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kehr is recorded at frequency rank #36,440, classified as averb, pronounced [keːɐ̯]. Kühe is at rank #8,584, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkyːə].

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 45024, this pair ranks #1,367,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kehr vs Kühe

Shared letters: ehk. Private to "kehr": r. Private to "Kühe": ü.

"kehr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kühe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

kehr#36,440
Kühe#8,584

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kehr" and "Kühe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kehr" is a verb and "Kühe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kehr" or "Kühe"?
"Kühe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,584 in our German list, against #36,440 for "kehr". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kehr vs Kühe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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