Which to use
“kabeln” and “kauen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,215
- “kabeln” frequency rank
- #22,394
- “kauen” frequency rank
- 60609
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kabeln | kauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Mitteilung über große Entfernungen telegrafisch übermitteln | Nahrung mit den Zähnen, durch wiederholtes Öffnen und Schließen der Kiefer, zerkleinern |
Where the eye mixes kabeln and kauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kabeln runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against kauen's 5 (CVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between kabeln and kauen
A purely visual mix-up. kabeln ([ˈkaːbl̩n]) and kauen ([ˈkaʊ̯ən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60609, 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]. kauen is at rank #22,394, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʊ̯ən].
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 60609, this pair ranks #780,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kabeln vs kauen
Shared letters: aekn. Private to "kabeln": bl. Private to "kauen": u.
"kabeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "kauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kabeln" and "kauen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "kabeln" or "kauen"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "kabeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #780,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kabeln" and "kauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kabeln vs Kacheln". 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 #780,612 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.