Which to use
“Kohl” is a noun and “kühle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,201
- “Kohl” frequency rank
- #13,191
- “kühle” frequency rank
- 20392
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kohl | kühle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zu den Kreuzblütengewächsen (Brassicaceae) gehörende Gemüsepflanze (Brassica oleracea) | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kühlen |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Kohl and kühle apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Kohl and kühle form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kohl is recorded at frequency rank #7,201, classified as anoun, pronounced [koːl]. kühle is at rank #13,191, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkyːlə].
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 20392, this pair ranks #1,898,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Kohl" and "kühle" be used interchangeably?
Remembering Kohl vs kühle
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Kohl”; for a verb, it's “kühle”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Kohl” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable