KölnvsKorWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Köln is a name, Kor is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Köln” is a name and “Kor” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#704
“Köln” frequency rank
#32,131
“Kor” frequency rank
32835
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Köln Kor
Definition Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, viertgrößte Stadt Deutschlands, gelegen am Rhein in der Bibel vorkommendes Hohlmaß: 1 Kor = 10 Bat = ca. 400 l

Where the eye mixes Köln and Kor

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
Köln
3 ch
Kor

Look-alike desk: Köln vs Kor

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Köln is [kœln] while Kor is [koːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32835, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Köln is recorded at frequency rank #704, classified as aname, pronounced [kœln]. Kor is at rank #32,131, tagged as anoun, pronounced [koːɐ̯].

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 32835, this pair ranks #1,699,029 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Köln vs Kor

Shared letters: k. Private to "Köln": lnö. Private to "Kor": or.

"Köln" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kor" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Köln" for "Kor" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Köln" is a name and "Kor" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Köln" vs "Kor" - which ranks higher?
"Köln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #704 in our German list, against #32,131 for "Kor". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Köln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,699,029 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Köln" and "Kor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kola vs Kor". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,699,029 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