Which to use
“klugen” is an adjective and “Kühen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,633
- “klugen” frequency rank
- #26,084
- “Kühen” frequency rank
- 43717
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | klugen | Kühen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs klug | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kuh |
Where the eye mixes klugen and Kühen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. klugen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against Kühen's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses klugen with Kühen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: klugen is [ˈkluːɡn̩] while Kühen is [ˈkyːən]. 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 43717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
klugen is recorded at frequency rank #17,633, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkluːɡn̩]. Kühen is at rank #26,084, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkyːən].
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 43717, this pair ranks #1,409,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of klugen vs Kühen
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "klugen": glu. Private to "Kühen": hü.
"klugen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "Kühen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- klugen ← kklugen · klguen · kllugen · kluegn · klugenn · kluggen · klugne · kulgen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "klugen" and "Kühen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "klugen" or "Kühen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "klugen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kühen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,409,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "klugen" and "Kühen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kucken vs Kühen". 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 #1,409,141 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.