Which to use
“Kolben” is a noun and “kommen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,666
- “Kolben” frequency rank
- #181
- “kommen” frequency rank
- 21847
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kolben | kommen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Keule oder ihr dickes Ende | einen Ort erreichen, sich von einem Ort hierher begeben |
Where the eye mixes Kolben and kommen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kolben and kommen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Kolben with kommen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kolben is [ˈkɔlbn̩] while kommen is [ˈkɔmən]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21847, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kolben is recorded at frequency rank #21,666, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɔlbn̩]. kommen is at rank #181, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɔmən].
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 21847, this pair ranks #1,881,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Kolben vs kommen
Shared letters: ekno. Private to "Kolben": bl. Private to "kommen": m.
"Kolben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "kommen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kolben" for "kommen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Kolben" vs "kommen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kolben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kommen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,881,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kolben" and "kommen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kolben 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 #1,881,432 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.