campevscampenConfusable pair

Which to use

“campe” and “campen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,723
“campe” frequency rank
#27,660
“campen” frequency rank
69383
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature campe campen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs campen kampieren, seine Freizeit auf einem Zelt- bzw. Campingplatz verbringen

Where the eye mixes campe and campen

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

5 ch
campe
6 ch
campen

Why the eye confuses campe with campen

A purely visual mix-up. campe ([ˈkɛmpə]) and campen ([ˈkɛmpn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “campe” sits inside “campen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69383, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

campe is recorded at frequency rank #41,723, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɛmpə]. campen is at rank #27,660, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɛmpn̩].

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 69383, this pair ranks #478,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of campe vs campen

Shared letters: acemp. Private to "campe": -. Private to "campen": n.

"campe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "campen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • campe ← acmpe · camep · cammpe · camppe · capme · ccampe · cmape
  • campen ← acmpen · camepn · cammpen · campenn · campne · camppen · capmen · ccampen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "campe" for "campen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛmpə] versus [ˈkɛmpn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "campe" vs "campen" - which ranks higher?
"campen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,660 in our German list, against #41,723 for "campe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "campe" and "campen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "campe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "campen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #478,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "campe" and "campen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "campe vs capo". 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 #478,329 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