KlammernvskümmernWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#11,272
“Klammern” frequency rank
#2,402
“kümmern” frequency rank
13674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klammern kümmern
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Klammer reflexiv, mit „um“: für jemanden sorgen

Where the eye mixes Klammern and kümmern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Klammern runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCC) against kümmern's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Klammern
7 ch
kümmern

Why the eye confuses Klammern with kümmern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Klammern is [ˈklamɐn] while kümmern is [ˈkʏmɐn]. 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 13674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Klammern is recorded at frequency rank #11,272, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklamɐn]. kümmern is at rank #2,402, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏmɐn].

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 13674, this pair ranks #1,956,474 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Klammern vs kümmern

Shared letters: ekmnr. Private to "Klammern": al. Private to "kümmern": ü.

"Klammern" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "kümmern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Klammern ← kalmmern · kklammern · klamemrn · klamern · klammenr · klammernn · klammerrn · klammren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Klammern" for "kümmern" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Klammern" is a noun and "kümmern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Klammern" or "kümmern"?
"kümmern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,402 in our German list, against #11,272 for "Klammern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Klammern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kümmern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,956,474 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klammern" and "kümmern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kämmen vs Klammern". 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 #1,956,474 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