KlosevsKruseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,200
“Klose” frequency rank
#14,112
“Kruse” frequency rank
39312
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klose Kruse
Definition deutscher Nachname niederdeutscher Familienname, Nachname

Where the eye mixes Klose and Kruse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Klose and Kruse follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Klose
5 ch
Kruse

Look-alike desk: Klose vs Kruse

A purely visual mix-up. Klose ([ˈkloːzə]) and Kruse ([ˈkʁuːzə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Klose is recorded at frequency rank #25,200, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈkloːzə]. Kruse is at rank #14,112, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈkʁuːzə].

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 39312, this pair ranks #1,540,227 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Klose vs Kruse

Shared letters: eks. Private to "Klose": lo. Private to "Kruse": ru.

"Klose" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Kruse" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Klose ← kklose · kllose · kloes · klosse · klsoe · kolse · lkose
  • Kruse ← kkruse · krruse · krsue · krues · krusse · rkuse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Klose" for "Kruse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkloːzə] versus [ˈkʁuːzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Klose" vs "Kruse" - which ranks higher?
"Kruse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,112 in our German list, against #25,200 for "Klose". 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 "Klose" and "Kruse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Klose" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kruse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,540,227 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klose" and "Kruse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Klose vs Knospe". 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 #1,540,227 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