kleinemvskleineremWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“kleinem” and “kleinerem” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,411
“kleinem” frequency rank
#43,288
“kleinerem” frequency rank
56699
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kleinem kleinerem
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs klein Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs klein

Where the eye mixes kleinem and kleinerem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. kleinem runs 7 letters (CCVVCVC) against kleinerem's 9 (CCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
kleinem
9 ch
kleinerem

Visual trap between kleinem and kleinerem

A purely visual mix-up. kleinem ([ˈklaɪ̯nəm]) and kleinerem ([ˈklaɪ̯nəʁəm]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kleinem is recorded at frequency rank #13,411, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nəm]. kleinerem is at rank #43,288, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nəʁəm].

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 56699, this pair ranks #930,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kleinem vs kleinerem

Shared letters: eiklmn. Private to "kleinem": -. Private to "kleinerem": r.

"kleinem" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "kleinerem" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kleinemkelinem · kkleinem · kleienm · kleinemm · kleinme · kleinnem · kleniem · klienem
  • kleineremkelinerem · kkleinerem · kleienrem · kleineerm · kleineremm · kleinerme · kleinerrem · kleinnerem

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kleinem" for "kleinerem" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklaɪ̯nəm] versus [ˈklaɪ̯nəʁəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kleinem" or "kleinerem"?
"kleinem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,411 in our German list, against #43,288 for "kleinerem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "kleinem" and "kleinerem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kleinem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kleinerem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #930,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kleinem" and "kleinerem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kleinerem vs Kleinkram". 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 #930,024 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