Which to use
“kehre” is a verb and “Kerl” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,121
- “kehre” frequency rank
- #3,132
- “Kerl” frequency rank
- 34253
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kehre | Kerl |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kehren | eine (meistens männliche) Person (Dieser Begriff kann sowohl eine positive als auch eine negative Konnotation tragen je nach Eigenschaft der Männlichkeit, die angesprochen wird.) |
Where the eye mixes kehre and Kerl
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: kehre vs Kerl
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kehre is [ˈkeːʁə] while Kerl is [kɛʁl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34253, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kehre is recorded at frequency rank #31,121, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkeːʁə]. Kerl is at rank #3,132, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɛʁl].
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 34253, this pair ranks #1,667,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kehre vs Kerl
Shared letters: ekr. Private to "kehre": h. Private to "Kerl": l.
"kehre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Kerl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kehre" for "Kerl" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kehre" or "Kerl" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "kehre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kerl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,667,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kehre" and "Kerl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kehre vs kläre". 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 #1,667,562 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.