KeimvskeimeConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#19,273
“Keim” frequency rank
#17,631
“keime” frequency rank
36904
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Keim keime
Definition Anfang, Beginn, erstes Anzeichen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs keimen

Where the eye mixes Keim and keime

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Keim 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.

4 ch
Keim
5 ch
keime

Visual trap between Keim and keime

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Keim is [kaɪ̯m] while keime is [ˈkaɪ̯mə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Keim” sits inside “keime”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36904, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Keim is recorded at frequency rank #19,273, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaɪ̯m]. 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 36904, this pair ranks #1,603,732 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Keim vs keime

Shared letters: eikm. Private to "Keim": -. Private to "keime": -.

"Keim" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "keime" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Keim ← ekim · keimm · kemi · kiem · kkeim
  • keime ← ekime · keiem · keimme · kemie · kieme · kkeime

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Keim" for "keime" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Keim" is a noun and "keime" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Keim" vs "keime" - which ranks higher?
"keime" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,631 in our German list, against #19,273 for "Keim". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Keim" 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 #1,603,732 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Keim" and "keime" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Keim 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 #1,603,732 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