kleinevsKleinodWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: kleine is a adjective, Kleinod is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#340
“kleine” frequency rank
#35,271
“Kleinod” frequency rank
35611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kleine Kleinod
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs klein Schmuckstück; etwas, das (im positiven Sinne) als besonders, kostbar, erstklassig gilt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kleine and Kleinod apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
kleine
7 ch
Kleinod

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kleine is [ˈklaɪ̯nə] while Kleinod is [ˈklaɪ̯nʔoːt]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kleine is recorded at frequency rank #340, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nə]. Kleinod is at rank #35,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nʔoːt].

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 35611, this pair ranks #1,635,859 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kleine vs Kleinod

Shared letters: eikln. Private to "kleine": -. Private to "Kleinod": do.

"kleine" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Kleinod" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kleinekeline · kkleine · kleien · kleinne · klenie · kliene · klleine · lkeine
  • Kleinodkelinod · kkleinod · kleindo · kleinnod · kleinodd · kleiond · kleniod · klienod

Frequency comparison

kleine#340
Kleinod#35,271

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kleine" and "Kleinod" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kleine" is an adjective and "Kleinod" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kleine" or "Kleinod"?
"kleine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #340 in our German list, against #35,271 for "Kleinod". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering kleine vs Kleinod

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “kleine”; for a noun, it's “Kleinod”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kleine” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list