KleidvskleidetWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,977
“Kleid” frequency rank
#40,033
“kleidet” frequency rank
44010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kleid kleidet
Definition einteiliges Oberbekleidungsstück für weibliche Personen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kleiden

Where the eye mixes Kleid and kleidet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kleid runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against kleidet's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Kleid
7 ch
kleidet

Look-alike desk: Kleid vs kleidet

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kleid is [klaɪ̯t] while kleidet is [ˈklaɪ̯dət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Kleid” sits inside “kleidet”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kleid is recorded at frequency rank #3,977, classified as anoun, pronounced [klaɪ̯t]. kleidet is at rank #40,033, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯dət].

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 44010, this pair ranks #1,399,959 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kleid vs kleidet

Shared letters: deikl. Private to "Kleid": -. Private to "kleidet": t.

"Kleid" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "kleidet" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kleid ← kelid · kkleid · kledi · kleidd · klied · klleid · lkeid
  • kleidet ← kelidet · kkleidet · klediet · kleiddet · kleidett · kleidte · kleiedt · kliedet

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kleid" and "kleidet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kleid" is a noun and "kleidet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kleid" or "kleidet"?
"Kleid" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,977 in our German list, against #40,033 for "kleidet". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kleid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kleidet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,399,959 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kleid" and "kleidet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kleiden vs kleidet". 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 #1,399,959 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