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 eye mixes kehr and Kühe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. kehr (CVCC) and Kühe (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses kehr with Kühe
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
- kehr ← ekhr · kehhr · kehrr · kerh · kher · kkehr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kehr" for "Kühe" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kehr" or "Kühe" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "kehr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kühe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,367,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kehr" and "Kühe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kar vs kehr". 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 #1,367,013 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.