Which to use
“keiner” is a pronoun and “kleinem” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #547
- “keiner” frequency rank
- #13,411
- “kleinem” frequency rank
- 13958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | keiner | kleinem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht einer; nicht ein einziger | Dativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs klein |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set keiner and kleinem apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
keiner and kleinem form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
keiner is recorded at frequency rank #547, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯nɐ]. kleinem is at rank #13,411, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nəm].
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 13958, this pair ranks #1,954,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "keiner" and "kleinem" be used interchangeably?
Remembering keiner vs kleinem
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “keiner”; for an adjective, it's “kleinem”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “keiner” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable