Which to use
“Kohle” and “Kühe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,464
- “Kohle” frequency rank
- #8,584
- “Kühe” frequency rank
- 12048
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kohle | Kühe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dunkelbraune oder schwarze, stark kohlenstoffhaltige, brennbare Substanz, meist aus fossilisierten Pflanzen entstanden | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kuh |
Where the eye mixes Kohle and Kühe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Kohle runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Kühe's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Kohle and Kühe
A purely visual mix-up. Kohle ([ˈkoːlə]) and Kühe ([ˈkyːə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kohle is recorded at frequency rank #3,464, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoːlə]. Kühe is at rank #8,584, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkyːə].
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 12048, this pair ranks #1,966,480 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Kohle vs Kühe
Shared letters: ehk. Private to "Kohle": lo. Private to "Kühe": ü.
"Kohle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Kühe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Kohle ← khole · kkohle · kohel · kohhle · kohlle · kolhe · okhle
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kohle" for "Kühe" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Kohle" or "Kühe" 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 "Kohle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kühe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,966,480 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kohle" and "Kühe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kohle vs Kölle". 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 #1,966,480 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.