klebtevsKleeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#38,225
“klebte” frequency rank
#19,623
“Klee” frequency rank
57848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature klebte Klee
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kleben krautige Wiesen- und Futterpflanze, der Gattung Trifolium aus der Familie der Hülsenfrüchtler , mit meist drei-, selten vierteiligen Blättern und kugeligen Blüten

Where the eye mixes klebte and Klee

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
klebte
4 ch
Klee

Visual trap between klebte and Klee

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: klebte is [ˈkleːptə] while Klee is [kleː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

klebte is recorded at frequency rank #38,225, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkleːptə]. Klee is at rank #19,623, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kleː].

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 57848, this pair ranks #885,429 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of klebte vs Klee

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "klebte": bt. Private to "Klee": -.

"klebte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Klee" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klebtekelbte · kklebte · klbete · klebbte · klebet · klebtte · kletbe · kllebte
  • Kleekele · kklee · kle · kllee · lkee

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "klebte" and "Klee" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "klebte" is a verb and "Klee" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "klebte" vs "Klee" - which ranks higher?
"Klee" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,623 in our German list, against #38,225 for "klebte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "klebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Klee" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #885,429 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "klebte" and "Klee" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klebte vs Krebse". 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 #885,429 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