klebtevsKrebseConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#38,225
“klebte” frequency rank
#46,089
“Krebse” frequency rank
84314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature klebte Krebse
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kleben Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Krebs

Where the eye mixes klebte and Krebse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. klebte and Krebse follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
klebte
6 ch
Krebse

Visual trap between klebte and Krebse

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: klebte is [ˈkleːptə] while Krebse is [ˈkʁeːpsə]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84314, 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]. Krebse is at rank #46,089, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁeːpsə].

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 84314, this pair ranks #125,767 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of klebte vs Krebse

Shared letters: bek. Private to "klebte": lt. Private to "Krebse": rs.

"klebte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Krebse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klebte ← kelbte · kklebte · klbete · klebbte · klebet · klebtte · kletbe · kllebte
  • Krebse ← kerbse · kkrebse · krbese · krebbse · krebes · krebsse · kresbe · krrebse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "klebte" and "Krebse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "klebte" is a verb and "Krebse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "klebte" or "Krebse"?
"klebte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,225 in our German list, against #46,089 for "Krebse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Krebse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #125,767 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "klebte" and "Krebse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krabbe 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 #125,767 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