KellevskilltWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#36,441
“Kelle” frequency rank
#46,067
“killt” frequency rank
82508
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kelle killt
Definition ein Schöpflöffel 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs killen

Where the eye mixes Kelle and killt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Kelle
5 ch
killt

Look-alike desk: Kelle vs killt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kelle is [ˈkɛlə] while killt is [kɪlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82508, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kelle is recorded at frequency rank #36,441, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛlə]. killt is at rank #46,067, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɪlt].

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 82508, this pair ranks #155,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Kelle vs killt

Shared letters: kl. Private to "Kelle": e. Private to "killt": it.

"Kelle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "killt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kelleeklle · kelel · kkelle · klele
  • killtikllt · killtt · kilt · kiltl · kkillt · klilt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kelle" for "killt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kelle" is a noun and "killt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Kelle" vs "killt" - which ranks higher?
"Kelle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,441 in our German list, against #46,067 for "killt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kelle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "killt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #155,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kelle" and "killt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "killt vs Kölle". 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 #155,997 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