KellernvsKellnerTell them apart

Which to use

“Kellern” and “Kellner” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,845
“Kellern” frequency rank
#9,576
“Kellner” frequency rank
48421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kellern Kellner
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Keller Angestellter in der Gastronomie, dessen Aufgabe die Bedienung der Gäste ist

Where the eye mixes Kellern and Kellner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Kellern
7 ch
Kellner

Why the eye confuses Kellern with Kellner

A purely visual mix-up. Kellern ([ˈkɛlɐn]) and Kellner ([ˈkɛlnɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kellern is recorded at frequency rank #38,845, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛlɐn]. Kellner is at rank #9,576, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛlnɐ].

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 48421, this pair ranks #1,249,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kellern vs Kellner

Shared letters: eklnr. Private to "Kellern": -. Private to "Kellner": -.

"Kellern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Kellner" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kellernekllern · kelelrn · kelern · kellernn · kellerrn · kellren · kkellern · klelern
  • Kellnerekllner · kellenr · kellnerr · kellnner · kellnre · kelner · kelnler · kkellner

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kellern" and "Kellner" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛlɐn] versus [ˈkɛlnɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kellern" or "Kellner"?
"Kellner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,576 in our German list, against #38,845 for "Kellern". 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 "Kellern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kellner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,249,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kellern" and "Kellner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kellern vs Keulen". 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 #1,249,194 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