KühlervskühltTell them apart

Quick tell: Kühler is a noun, kühlt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kühler” is a noun and “kühlt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,192
“Kühler” frequency rank
#29,208
“kühlt” frequency rank
42400
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kühler kühlt
Definition Gefäß/Behälter zum Kühlhalten von Getränken 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kühlen

Where the eye mixes Kühler and kühlt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kühler runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against kühlt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Kühler
5 ch
kühlt

Look-alike desk: Kühler vs kühlt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kühler is [ˈkyːlɐ] while kühlt is [kyːlt]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kühler is recorded at frequency rank #13,192, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkyːlɐ]. kühlt is at rank #29,208, tagged as averb, pronounced [kyːlt].

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 42400, this pair ranks #1,450,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kühler vs kühlt

Shared letters: hklü. Private to "Kühler": er. Private to "kühlt": t.

"Kühler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "kühlt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kühler" for "kühlt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kühler" is a noun and "kühlt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kühler" or "kühlt"?
"Kühler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,192 in our German list, against #29,208 for "kühlt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Kühler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kühlt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,450,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kühler" and "kühlt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "killt vs kühlt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,450,524 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