KindvsklinkWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Kind is a noun, klink is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kind” is a noun and “klink” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#458
“Kind” frequency rank
#38,853
“klink” frequency rank
39311
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kind klink
Definition heranwachsender Mensch, aber noch kein Jugendlicher 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs klinken

Where the eye mixes Kind and klink

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Kind
5 ch
klink

Why the eye confuses Kind with klink

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kind is [kɪnt] while klink is [klɪŋk]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kind is recorded at frequency rank #458, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɪnt]. klink is at rank #38,853, tagged as averb, pronounced [klɪŋk].

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 39311, this pair ranks #1,540,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kind vs klink

Shared letters: ikn. Private to "Kind": d. Private to "klink": l.

"Kind" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "klink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kindiknd · kidn · kindd · kinnd · kkind · knid
  • klinkkilnk · kklink · klikn · klinkk · klinnk · kllink · klnik · lkink

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kind" and "klink" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kind" is a noun and "klink" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kind" or "klink"?
"Kind" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #458 in our German list, against #38,853 for "klink". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kind" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "klink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,540,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kind" and "klink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klink vs klipp". 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 #1,540,261 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