gebanntvsgekanntTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,239
“gebannt” frequency rank
#11,435
“gekannt” frequency rank
22674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebannt gekannt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bannen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs kennen

Where the eye mixes gebannt and gekannt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
gebannt
7 ch
gekannt

Visual trap between gebannt and gekannt

A purely visual mix-up. gebannt ([ɡəˈbant]) and gekannt ([ɡəˈkant]) 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 a single letter - b in “gebannt” becomes k in “gekannt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebannt is recorded at frequency rank #11,239, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbant]. gekannt is at rank #11,435, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈkant].

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 22674, this pair ranks #1,871,185 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebannt vs gekannt

Shared letters: aegnt. Private to "gebannt": b. Private to "gekannt": k.

"gebannt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gekannt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebanntegbannt · gbeannt · geabnnt · gebanntt · gebant · gebantn · gebbannt · gebnant
  • gekanntegkannt · geaknnt · gekanntt · gekant · gekantn · gekkannt · geknant · ggekannt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gebannt" and "gekannt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbant] versus [ɡəˈkant]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gebannt" or "gekannt"?
"gebannt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,239 in our German list, against #11,435 for "gekannt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebannt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gekannt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,871,185 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebannt" and "gekannt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gekannt vs gesinnt". 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 #1,871,185 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