klingvsklingstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,403
“kling” frequency rank
#39,472
“klingst” frequency rank
63875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kling klingst
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs klingen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs klingen

Where the eye mixes kling and klingst

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

5 ch
kling
7 ch
klingst

Why the eye confuses kling with klingst

A purely visual mix-up. kling ([klɪŋ]) and klingst ([klɪŋst]) 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 extra letter(s) - “kling” sits inside “klingst”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kling is recorded at frequency rank #24,403, classified as averb, pronounced [klɪŋ]. klingst is at rank #39,472, tagged as averb, pronounced [klɪŋst].

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 63875, this pair ranks #661,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kling vs klingst

Shared letters: gikln. Private to "kling": -. Private to "klingst": st.

"kling" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "klingst" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klingkilng · kkling · klign · klingg · klinng · klling · klnig · lking
  • klingstkilngst · kklingst · klignst · klinggst · klingsst · klingstt · klingts · klinngst

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kling" for "klingst" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([klɪŋ] versus [klɪŋst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kling" vs "klingst" - which ranks higher?
"kling" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,403 in our German list, against #39,472 for "klingst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "klingst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #661,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kling" and "klingst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klickst vs klingst". 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 #661,273 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