KohlenvskühlesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Kohlen is a noun, kühles is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kohlen” is a noun and “kühles” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,626
“Kohlen” frequency rank
#31,145
“kühles” frequency rank
56771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kohlen kühles
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kohle Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kühl

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Kohlen and kühles apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Kohlen
6 ch
kühles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kohlen is [ˈkoːlən] while kühles is [ˈkyːləs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56771, 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]. kühles is at rank #31,145, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkyːləs].

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 56771, this pair ranks #927,250 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kohlen vs kühles

Shared letters: ehkl. Private to "Kohlen": no. Private to "kühles": .

"Kohlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "kühles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kohlenkholen · kkohlen · koheln · kohhlen · kohlenn · kohllen · kohlne · kolhen

Frequency comparison

Kohlen#25,626
kühles#31,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kohlen" and "kühles" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kohlen" is a noun and "kühles" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kohlen" or "kühles"?
"Kohlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,626 in our German list, against #31,145 for "kühles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Kohlen vs kühles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Kohlen”; for an adjective, it's “kühles”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Kohlen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list