KlassevsKloseWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Klasse is a noun, Klose is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Klasse” is a noun and “Klose” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#600
“Klasse” frequency rank
#25,200
“Klose” frequency rank
25800
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klasse Klose
Definition Gruppe gleichartiger Elemente deutscher Nachname

Where the eye mixes Klasse and Klose

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Klasse runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against Klose's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Klasse
5 ch
Klose

Why the eye confuses Klasse with Klose

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Klasse is [ˈklasə] while Klose is [ˈkloːzə]. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25800, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Klasse is recorded at frequency rank #600, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklasə]. Klose is at rank #25,200, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈkloːzə].

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 25800, this pair ranks #1,827,805 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Klasse vs Klose

Shared letters: ekls. Private to "Klasse": a. Private to "Klose": o.

"Klasse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Klose" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Klasse ← kalsse · kklasse · klase · klases · klaße · kllasse · klsase · lkasse
  • Klose ← kklose · kllose · kloes · klosse · klsoe · kolse · lkose

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Klasse" and "Klose" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Klasse" is a noun and "Klose" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Klasse" or "Klose" show up more?
"Klasse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #600 in our German list, against #25,200 for "Klose". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Klasse" and "Klose" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Klasse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Klose" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,827,805 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klasse" and "Klose" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Klose vs Knospe". 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 #1,827,805 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