Which to use
“kann” is a verb and “kay” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #53
- “kann” frequency rank
- #10,503
- “kay” frequency rank
- 10556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kann | kay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs können | Fisch |
Letter map: kann vs kay
Shared letters muted; letters that set kann and kay apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: kann vs kay
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: kann is averb and kayanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kann is recorded at frequency rank #53, classified as averb, pronounced [kan]. kay is at rank #10,503, tagged as anoun, 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 10556, this pair ranks #1,974,559 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kann vs kay
Shared letters: ak. Private to "kann": n. Private to "kay": y.
"kann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kay" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- kann ← aknn · kkann · knan
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kann" for "kay" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kann" vs "kay" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "kann" and "kay".
- Full dictionary entry for "kann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,974,559 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kann" and "kay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kay vs puzzles". 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 #1,974,559 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.