Which to use
“Kerner” is a noun and “kleiner” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,619
- “Kerner” frequency rank
- #860
- “kleiner” frequency rank
- 33479
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kerner | kleiner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine weiße Rebsorte, die 1929 aus einer Kreuzung von Trollinger und Riesling hervorgegangen ist (durchgeführt von August Herold an der Staatlichen Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Wein-, Obst- und Gartenbau in Weinsberg) | Nominativ Singular des Adjektivs klein |
Where the eye mixes Kerner and kleiner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kerner runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against kleiner's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Kerner vs kleiner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kerner is [ˈkɛʁnɐ] while kleiner is [ˈklaɪ̯nɐ]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kerner is recorded at frequency rank #32,619, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛʁnɐ]. kleiner is at rank #860, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nɐ].
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 33479, this pair ranks #1,685,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Kerner vs kleiner
Shared letters: eknr. Private to "Kerner": -. Private to "kleiner": il.
"Kerner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "kleiner" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kerner" for "kleiner" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Kerner" or "kleiner"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Kerner" and "kleiner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kerner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kleiner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,685,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kerner" and "kleiner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kerner vs Kerns". 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 #1,685,141 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.