Which to use
“Keulen” and “Kühen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,383
- “Keulen” frequency rank
- #26,084
- “Kühen” frequency rank
- 71467
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Keulen | Kühen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Keule | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kuh |
Where the eye mixes Keulen and Kühen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Keulen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Kühen's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Keulen and Kühen
A purely visual mix-up. Keulen ([ˈkɔɪ̯lən]) and Kühen ([ˈkyːən]) 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 71467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Keulen is recorded at frequency rank #45,383, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɔɪ̯lən]. Kühen is at rank #26,084, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkyːən].
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 71467, this pair ranks #415,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Keulen vs Kühen
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "Keulen": lu. Private to "Kühen": hü.
"Keulen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "Kühen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Keulen ← ekulen · keluen · keueln · keulenn · keullen · keulne · kkeulen · kuelen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Keulen" for "Kühen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Keulen" or "Kühen" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Keulen" and "Kühen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Keulen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kühen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #415,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Keulen" and "Kühen" 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 #415,927 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.