kleidenvsKleidernWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#23,199
“kleiden” frequency rank
#19,276
“Kleidern” frequency rank
42475
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kleiden Kleidern
Definition mit Kleidung versehen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kleid

Where the eye mixes kleiden and Kleidern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
kleiden
8 ch
Kleidern

Why the eye confuses kleiden with Kleidern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kleiden is [ˈklaɪ̯dn̩] while Kleidern is [ˈklaɪ̯dɐn]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kleiden is recorded at frequency rank #23,199, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯dn̩]. Kleidern is at rank #19,276, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯dɐn].

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 42475, this pair ranks #1,448,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kleiden vs Kleidern

Shared letters: deikln. Private to "kleiden": -. Private to "Kleidern": r.

"kleiden" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "Kleidern" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kleidenkeliden · kkleiden · kledien · kleidden · kleidenn · kleidne · kleiedn · klieden
  • Kleidernkelidern · kkleidern · klediern · kleiddern · kleidenr · kleidernn · kleiderrn · kleidren

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kleiden" and "Kleidern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kleiden" is a verb and "Kleidern" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "kleiden" or "Kleidern" show up more?
"Kleidern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,276 in our German list, against #23,199 for "kleiden". 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 "kleiden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kleidern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,448,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kleiden" and "Kleidern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kleiden vs kneifen". 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 #1,448,157 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