Which to use
“kleinste” and “kleinsten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,554
- “kleinste” frequency rank
- #7,200
- “kleinsten” frequency rank
- 13754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kleinste | kleinsten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs klein | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs klein |
Where the eye mixes kleinste and kleinsten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. kleinste runs 8 letters (CCVVCCCV) against kleinsten's 9 (CCVVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kleinste and kleinsten
A purely visual mix-up. kleinste ([ˈklaɪ̯nstə]) and kleinsten ([ˈklaɪ̯nstn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “kleinste” sits inside “kleinsten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kleinste is recorded at frequency rank #6,554, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nstə]. kleinsten is at rank #7,200, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nstn̩].
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 13754, this pair ranks #1,955,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kleinste vs kleinsten
Shared letters: eiklnst. Private to "kleinste": -. Private to "kleinsten": -.
"kleinste" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCCV · "kleinsten" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kleinste" and "kleinsten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "kleinste" vs "kleinsten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kleinste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kleinsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,955,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kleinste" and "kleinsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kleinsten vs kleinster". 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 #1,955,922 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.