klebtevskleineConfusable pair

Quick tell: klebte is a verb, kleine is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#38,225
“klebte” frequency rank
#340
“kleine” frequency rank
38565
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature klebte kleine
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kleben Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs klein

Where the eye mixes klebte and kleine

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. klebte (CCVCCV) and kleine (CCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
klebte
6 ch
kleine

Look-alike desk: klebte vs kleine

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: klebte is [ˈkleːptə] while kleine is [ˈklaɪ̯nə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38565, 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]. kleine is at rank #340, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nə].

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 38565, this pair ranks #1,560,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of klebte vs kleine

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "klebte": bt. Private to "kleine": in.

"klebte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "kleine" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klebte ← kelbte · kklebte · klbete · klebbte · klebet · klebtte · kletbe · kllebte
  • kleine ← keline · kkleine · kleien · kleinne · klenie · kliene · klleine · lkeine

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "klebte" and "kleine" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "klebte" is a verb and "kleine" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "klebte" vs "kleine" - which ranks higher?
"kleine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #340 in our German list, against #38,225 for "klebte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "klebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kleine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,560,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "klebte" and "kleine" 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 #1,560,562 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