kapernvsKaserneWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#38,220
“kapern” frequency rank
#11,680
“Kaserne” frequency rank
49900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kapern Kaserne
Definition sich eines Schiffs bemächtigen ein Gebäude für die permanente Unterkunft von Soldaten oder (Polizei-)Truppen

Where the eye mixes kapern and Kaserne

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. kapern runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against Kaserne's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
kapern
7 ch
Kaserne

Visual trap between kapern and Kaserne

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kapern is [ˈkaːpɐn] while Kaserne is [kaˈzɛʁnə]. 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 49900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kapern is recorded at frequency rank #38,220, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaːpɐn]. Kaserne is at rank #11,680, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈzɛʁnə].

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 49900, this pair ranks #1,194,156 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kapern vs Kaserne

Shared letters: aeknr. Private to "kapern": p. Private to "Kaserne": s.

"kapern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Kaserne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kapernakpern · kaeprn · kapenr · kapernn · kaperrn · kappern · kapren · kkapern
  • Kaserneakserne · kaesrne · kasenre · kaseren · kasernne · kaserrne · kasrene · kasserne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kapern" and "Kaserne" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kapern" is a verb and "Kaserne" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kapern" or "Kaserne"?
"Kaserne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,680 in our German list, against #38,220 for "kapern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kapern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kaserne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,194,156 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kapern" and "Kaserne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kapern vs ködern". 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 #1,194,156 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