kanvskeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,843
“kan” frequency rank
#20,973
“ke” frequency rank
35816
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kan ke
Definition 1. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs kunna ^(→ sv) 2. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ Nichtadmirativ Aktiv zum Verb kam

Letter map: kan vs ke

Shared letters muted; letters that set kan and ke apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
kan
2 ch
ke

Spelling & dictionary notes on kan vs ke

kan and ke are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35816, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kan is recorded at frequency rank #14,843, classified as averb, pronounced […]. ke is at rank #20,973, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 35816, this pair ranks #1,630,828 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kan vs ke

Shared letters: k. Private to "kan": an. Private to "ke": e.

"kan" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "ke" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kan" for "ke" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "kan" vs "ke" - which ranks higher?
"kan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,843 in our German list, against #20,973 for "ke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "kan" and "ke".

  • Full dictionary entry for "kan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,630,828 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kan" and "ke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ke vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,630,828 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