Which to use
“kühl” is an adjective and “kun” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,096
- “kühl” frequency rank
- #35,882
- “kun” frequency rank
- 43978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kühl | kun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von geringer, meist gefühlter Temperatur | mit |
Where the eye mixes kühl and kun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between kühl and kun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kühl is [kyːl] while kun is [kun]. 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 (adjective vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kühl is recorded at frequency rank #8,096, classified as anadj, pronounced [kyːl]. kun is at rank #35,882, tagged as aprep, pronounced [kun].
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 43978, this pair ranks #1,400,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kühl vs kun
Shared letters: k. Private to "kühl": hlü. Private to "kun": nu.
"kühl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kühl" for "kun" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kühl" or "kun" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "kühl" and "kun" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kühl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,400,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kühl" and "kun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Koi vs kun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,400,984 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.