KümmelvskümmereTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#37,040
“Kümmel” frequency rank
#20,987
“kümmere” frequency rank
58027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kümmel kümmere
Definition Gewürzpflanze: Doldenblütler der Art Carum carvi 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kümmern

Where the eye mixes Kümmel and kümmere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kümmel runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against kümmere's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Kümmel
7 ch
kümmere

Why the eye confuses Kümmel with kümmere

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kümmel is [ˈkʏml̩] while kümmere is [ˈkʏməʁə]. 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 58027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kümmel is recorded at frequency rank #37,040, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʏml̩]. kümmere is at rank #20,987, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏməʁə].

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 58027, this pair ranks #878,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kümmel vs kümmere

Shared letters: ekmü. Private to "Kümmel": l. Private to "kümmere": r.

"Kümmel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "kümmere" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kümmel" and "kümmere" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kümmel" is a noun and "kümmere" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Kümmel" or "kümmere" show up more?
"kümmere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,987 in our German list, against #37,040 for "Kümmel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kümmel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kümmere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #878,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kümmel" and "kümmere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kämmen vs Kümmel". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #878,549 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