KoivsKönigTell them apart

Which to use

“Koi” and “König” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,782
“Koi” frequency rank
#816
“König” frequency rank
47598
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Koi König
Definition japanische Zuchtform des Karpfens höchster oder historisch hoher (nach dem Kaiser) monarchischer Würdenträger eines Staates, eines Königreiches; Namensbestandteil von Titelbezeichnungen

Where the eye mixes Koi and König

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Koi runs 3 letters (CVV) against König's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
Koi
5 ch
König

Why the eye confuses Koi with König

A purely visual mix-up. Koi ([kɔɪ̯]) and König ([ˈkøːnɪç]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Koi is recorded at frequency rank #46,782, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɔɪ̯]. König is at rank #816, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪç].

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 47598, this pair ranks #1,278,742 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Koi vs König

Shared letters: ik. Private to "Koi": o. Private to "König": gnö.

"Koi" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "König" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Koi" and "König" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kɔɪ̯] versus [ˈkøːnɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Koi" or "König" show up more?
"König" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #816 in our German list, against #46,782 for "Koi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Koi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "König" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,278,742 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Koi" and "König" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Koi vs kola". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,278,742 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list