KellernvsKeulenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,845
“Kellern” frequency rank
#45,383
“Keulen” frequency rank
84228
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kellern Keulen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Keller Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Keule

Where the eye mixes Kellern and Keulen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kellern runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against Keulen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Kellern
6 ch
Keulen

Visual trap between Kellern and Keulen

A purely visual mix-up. Kellern ([ˈkɛlɐn]) and Keulen ([ˈkɔɪ̯lən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84228, 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]. Keulen is at rank #45,383, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɔɪ̯lən].

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 84228, this pair ranks #127,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Kellern vs Keulen

Shared letters: ekln. Private to "Kellern": r. Private to "Keulen": u.

"Kellern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Keulen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kellern ← ekllern · kelelrn · kelern · kellernn · kellerrn · kellren · kkellern · klelern
  • Keulen ← ekulen · keluen · keueln · keulenn · keullen · keulne · kkeulen · kuelen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kellern" for "Keulen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛlɐn] versus [ˈkɔɪ̯lən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kellern" or "Keulen" show up more?
"Kellern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,845 in our German list, against #45,383 for "Keulen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kellern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Keulen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #127,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kellern" and "Keulen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kehlen 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 #127,039 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