Which to use
“kannten” and “kennen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,934
- “kannten” frequency rank
- #733
- “kennen” frequency rank
- 10667
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kannten | kennen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs kennen | über jemanden/etwas Bescheid wissen |
Where the eye mixes kannten and kennen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses kannten with kennen
A purely visual mix-up. kannten ([ˈkantn̩]) and kennen ([ˈkɛnən]) 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 10667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kannten is recorded at frequency rank #9,934, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkantn̩]. kennen is at rank #733, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɛnən].
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 10667, this pair ranks #1,973,963 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kannten vs kennen
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "kannten": at. Private to "kennen": -.
"kannten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "kennen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kannten" and "kennen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "kannten" or "kennen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "kannten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kennen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,973,963 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kannten" and "kennen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kannten vs konntet". 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 #1,973,963 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.