Which to use
“Kohlen” and “Kühen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,626
- “Kohlen” frequency rank
- #26,084
- “Kühen” frequency rank
- 51710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kohlen | Kühen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kohle | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kuh |
Where the eye mixes Kohlen and Kühen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kohlen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Kühen's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Kohlen and Kühen
A purely visual mix-up. Kohlen ([ˈkoːlən]) and Kühen ([ˈkyːən]) 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 51710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kohlen is recorded at frequency rank #25,626, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoːlən]. 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 51710, this pair ranks #1,125,067 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Kohlen vs Kühen
Shared letters: ehkn. Private to "Kohlen": lo. Private to "Kühen": ü.
"Kohlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Kühen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Kohlen ← kholen · kkohlen · koheln · kohhlen · kohlenn · kohllen · kohlne · kolhen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Kohlen" and "Kühen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Kohlen" or "Kühen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kohlen" 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 #1,125,067 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kohlen" 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 #1,125,067 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.