Which to use
“Keil” is a noun and “keime” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,197
- “Keil” frequency rank
- #17,631
- “keime” frequency rank
- 33828
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Keil | keime |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | spitz zulaufender Gegenstand aus festem Material in Form eines Prismas mit dreieckiger Grundfläche | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs keimen |
Where the eye mixes Keil and keime
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Keil runs 4 letters (CVVC) against keime's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Keil vs keime
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Keil is [kaɪ̯l] while keime is [ˈkaɪ̯mə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Keil is recorded at frequency rank #16,197, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaɪ̯l]. keime is at rank #17,631, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯mə].
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 33828, this pair ranks #1,677,189 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Keil vs keime
Shared letters: eik. Private to "Keil": l. Private to "keime": m.
"Keil" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "keime" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Keil" and "keime" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Keil" or "keime"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Keil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "keime" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,677,189 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Keil" and "keime" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Keil vs Koi". 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 #1,677,189 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.