Which to use
“keins” is an unknown and “Kreis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,734
- “keins” frequency rank
- #861
- “Kreis” frequency rank
- 9595
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | keins | Kreis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Neutrum nicht attributiv des Indefinitpronomens kein | geometrischer Ort aller Punkte, die von einem gegebenen Punkt, dem (Kreis-)Mittelpunkt, den gleichen Abstand haben, genannt (Kreis-)Radius |
Where the eye mixes keins and Kreis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses keins with Kreis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: keins is [kaɪ̯ns] while Kreis is [kʁaɪ̯s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
keins is recorded at frequency rank #8,734, classified as anunknown, pronounced [kaɪ̯ns]. Kreis is at rank #861, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁaɪ̯s].
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 9595, this pair ranks #1,979,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of keins vs Kreis
Shared letters: eiks. Private to "keins": n. Private to "Kreis": r.
"keins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "Kreis" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "keins" and "Kreis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "keins" vs "Kreis" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "keins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kreis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,979,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "keins" and "Kreis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "keins vs Knies". 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 #1,979,229 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.