kämevsKnabeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: käme is a verb, Knabe is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“käme” is a verb and “Knabe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,629
“käme” frequency rank
#18,951
“Knabe” frequency rank
23580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature käme Knabe
Definition 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kommen Kind männlichen Geschlechts

Where the eye mixes käme and Knabe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
käme
5 ch
Knabe

Look-alike desk: käme vs Knabe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: käme is [ˈkɛːmə] while Knabe is [ˈknaːbə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

käme is recorded at frequency rank #4,629, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɛːmə]. Knabe is at rank #18,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈknaːbə].

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 23580, this pair ranks #1,859,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of käme vs Knabe

Shared letters: ek. Private to "käme": . Private to "Knabe": abn.

"käme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Knabe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Knabekanbe · kknabe · knabbe · knaeb · knbae · knnabe · nkabe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "käme" and "Knabe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "käme" is a verb and "Knabe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "käme" vs "Knabe" - which ranks higher?
"käme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,629 in our German list, against #18,951 for "Knabe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "käme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Knabe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,859,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "käme" and "Knabe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knabe vs Knaus". 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 #1,859,386 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