Which to use
“Kerbe” and “Kerze” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,443
- “Kerbe” frequency rank
- #12,517
- “Kerze” frequency rank
- 48960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kerbe | Kerze |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine keilförmige Vertiefung | Leuchtmittel mit offener Flamme; bestehend aus Wachs |
Where the eye mixes Kerbe and Kerze
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kerbe and Kerze follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: Kerbe vs Kerze
A purely visual mix-up. Kerbe ([ˈkɛʁbə]) and Kerze ([ˈkɛʁt͡sə]) 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 a single letter - b in “Kerbe” becomes z in “Kerze”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kerbe is recorded at frequency rank #36,443, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛʁbə]. Kerze is at rank #12,517, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛʁt͡sə].
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 48960, this pair ranks #1,229,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Kerbe vs Kerze
Shared letters: ekr. Private to "Kerbe": b. Private to "Kerze": z.
"Kerbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Kerze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kerbe" for "Kerze" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Kerbe" or "Kerze" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kerbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kerze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,229,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kerbe" and "Kerze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs Kerbe". 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 #1,229,171 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.