keimevsKeimenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#17,631
“keime” frequency rank
#33,144
“Keimen” frequency rank
50775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature keime Keimen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs keimen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Keim

Where the eye mixes keime and Keimen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. keime runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Keimen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
keime
6 ch
Keimen

Why the eye confuses keime with Keimen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: keime is [ˈkaɪ̯mə] while Keimen is [ˈkaɪ̯mən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “keime” sits inside “Keimen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

keime is recorded at frequency rank #17,631, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯mə]. Keimen is at rank #33,144, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯mən].

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 50775, this pair ranks #1,160,973 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of keime vs Keimen

Shared letters: eikm. Private to "keime": -. Private to "Keimen": n.

"keime" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Keimen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • keime ← ekime · keiem · keimme · kemie · kieme · kkeime
  • Keimen ← ekimen · keiemn · keimenn · keimmen · keimne · kemien · kiemen · kkeimen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "keime" and "Keimen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "keime" is a verb and "Keimen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "keime" vs "Keimen" - which ranks higher?
"keime" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,631 in our German list, against #33,144 for "Keimen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "keime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Keimen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,160,973 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "keime" and "Keimen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Keimen vs kneifen". 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 #1,160,973 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