KerbervsKörbeConfusable pair

Quick tell: Kerber is a name, Körbe is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kerber” is a name and “Körbe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,660
“Kerber” frequency rank
#29,667
“Körbe” frequency rank
51327
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kerber Körbe
Definition Familienname Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Korb

Where the eye mixes Kerber and Körbe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kerber runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Körbe's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Kerber
5 ch
Körbe

Visual trap between Kerber and Körbe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kerber is [ˈkɛʁbɐ] while Körbe is [ˈkœʁbə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kerber is recorded at frequency rank #21,660, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈkɛʁbɐ]. Körbe is at rank #29,667, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkœʁbə].

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 51327, this pair ranks #1,139,722 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kerber vs Körbe

Shared letters: bekr. Private to "Kerber": -. Private to "Körbe": ö.

"Kerber" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Körbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kerber ← ekrber · kebrer · kerbber · kerberr · kerbre · kerebr · kerrber · kkerber

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kerber" and "Körbe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kerber" is a name and "Körbe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Kerber" vs "Körbe" - which ranks higher?
"Kerber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,660 in our German list, against #29,667 for "Körbe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kerber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Körbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,139,722 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kerber" and "Körbe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kölle vs Körbe". 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 #1,139,722 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