Which to use
“Kühen” is a noun and “kühle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,084
- “Kühen” frequency rank
- #13,191
- “kühle” frequency rank
- 39275
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kühen | kühle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kuh | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kühlen |
Where the eye mixes Kühen and kühle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kühen (CVCVC) and kühle (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses Kühen with kühle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kühen is [ˈkyːən] while kühle is [ˈkyːlə]. 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 39275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kühen is recorded at frequency rank #26,084, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkyːən]. kühle is at rank #13,191, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkyːlə].
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 39275, this pair ranks #1,541,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Kühen vs kühle
Shared letters: ehkü. Private to "Kühen": n. Private to "kühle": l.
"Kühen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "kühle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kühen" for "kühle" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Kühen" or "kühle" show up more?
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 "Kühen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kühle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,541,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kühen" and "kühle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kucken vs Kühen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,541,244 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.