Which to use
“quer” is an adverb and “qui” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,149
- “quer” frequency rank
- #18,668
- “qui” frequency rank
- 22817
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quer | qui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schräg, von der einen zur anderen Seite | der, die, das; wer, was |
Where the eye mixes quer and qui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: quer vs qui
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quer is [kveːɐ̯] while qui is [ki]. 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 (adverb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22817, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quer is recorded at frequency rank #4,149, classified as anadv, pronounced [kveːɐ̯]. qui is at rank #18,668, tagged as apron, pronounced [ki].
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 22817, this pair ranks #1,869,369 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of quer vs qui
Shared letters: qu. Private to "quer": er. Private to "qui": i.
"quer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "qui" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- quer ← qeur · qquer · querr · qure · uqer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "quer" and "qui" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "quer" or "qui" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "quer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "qui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,869,369 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quer" and "qui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "qui vs Quint". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,869,369 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.