Which to use
“Kreisel” is a noun and “kreisen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,939
- “Kreisel” frequency rank
- #5,195
- “kreisen” frequency rank
- 32134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kreisel | kreisen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein kleines Kinderspielzeug, das sich auf einer Spitze im Kreis dreht, wenn man es mit dem entsprechenden Schwung versieht | sich kreisförmig um etwas bewegen |
Where the eye mixes Kreisel and kreisen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Kreisel and kreisen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: Kreisel vs kreisen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kreisel is [ˈkʁaɪ̯zl̩] while kreisen is [ˈkʁaɪ̯zn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “Kreisel” becomes n in “kreisen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kreisel is recorded at frequency rank #26,939, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯zl̩]. kreisen is at rank #5,195, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯zn̩].
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 32134, this pair ranks #1,714,011 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Kreisel vs kreisen
Shared letters: eikrs. Private to "Kreisel": l. Private to "kreisen": n.
"Kreisel" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "kreisen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kreisel" for "kreisen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Kreisel" or "kreisen"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Kreisel" and "kreisen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kreisel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kreisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,714,011 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kreisel" and "kreisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krebse vs Kreisel". 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 #1,714,011 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.