Which to use
“Kühe” is a noun and “kühnen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,584
- “Kühe” frequency rank
- #38,244
- “kühnen” frequency rank
- 46828
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kühe | kühnen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kuh | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kühn |
Where the eye mixes Kühe and kühnen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kühe runs 4 letters (CVCV) against kühnen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Kühe with kühnen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kühe is [ˈkyːə] while kühnen is [ˈkyːnən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kühe is recorded at frequency rank #8,584, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkyːə]. kühnen is at rank #38,244, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkyːnən].
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 46828, this pair ranks #1,305,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Kühe vs kühnen
Shared letters: ehkü. Private to "Kühe": -. Private to "kühnen": n.
"Kühe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "kühnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kühe" for "kühnen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Kühe" vs "kühnen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Kühe" and "kühnen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kühe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kühnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,305,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kühe" and "kühnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kucken vs kühnen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,305,555 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.