KeulenvsKükenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,383
“Keulen” frequency rank
#15,935
“Küken” frequency rank
61318
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Keulen Küken
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Keule frisch geschlüpfter Vogel

Where the eye mixes Keulen and Küken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Keulen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Küken's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Keulen
5 ch
Küken

Visual trap between Keulen and Küken

A purely visual mix-up. Keulen ([ˈkɔɪ̯lən]) and Küken ([ˈkyːkn̩]) 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 61318, 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]. Küken is at rank #15,935, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkyːkn̩].

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 61318, this pair ranks #754,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Keulen vs Küken

Shared letters: ekn. Private to "Keulen": lu. Private to "Küken": ü.

"Keulen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Küken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Keulen ← ekulen · keluen · keueln · keulenn · keullen · keulne · kkeulen · kuelen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Keulen" and "Küken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɔɪ̯lən] versus [ˈkyːkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Keulen" vs "Küken" - which ranks higher?
"Küken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,935 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Keulen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Küken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #754,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Keulen" and "Küken" 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 #754,260 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