Which to use
“kabeln” and “kapern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,215
- “kabeln” frequency rank
- #38,220
- “kapern” frequency rank
- 76435
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kabeln | kapern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Mitteilung über große Entfernungen telegrafisch übermitteln | sich eines Schiffs bemächtigen |
Where the eye mixes kabeln and kapern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kabeln and kapern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses kabeln with kapern
A purely visual mix-up. kabeln ([ˈkaːbl̩n]) and kapern ([ˈkaːpɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kabeln is recorded at frequency rank #38,215, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaːbl̩n]. kapern is at rank #38,220, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaːpɐn].
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 76435, this pair ranks #284,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of kabeln vs kapern
Shared letters: aekn. Private to "kabeln": bl. Private to "kapern": pr.
"kabeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "kapern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kabeln" for "kapern" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kabeln" or "kapern" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "kabeln" and "kapern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kabeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kapern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #284,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kabeln" and "kapern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kapern vs ködern". 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 #284,004 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.