kapernvsködernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,220
“kapern” frequency rank
#44,033
“ködern” frequency rank
82253
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kapern ködern
Definition sich eines Schiffs bemächtigen jemanden oder ein Tier anlocken, in eine Falle locken

Where the eye mixes kapern and ködern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kapern and ködern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
kapern
6 ch
ködern

Look-alike desk: kapern vs ködern

A purely visual mix-up. kapern ([ˈkaːpɐn]) and ködern ([ˈkøːdɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82253, 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]. ködern is at rank #44,033, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkøːdɐn].

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 82253, this pair ranks #160,554 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kapern vs ködern

Shared letters: eknr. Private to "kapern": ap. Private to "ködern": dö.

"kapern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "ködern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kapern ← akpern · kaeprn · kapenr · kapernn · kaperrn · kappern · kapren · kkapern

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kapern" for "ködern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaːpɐn] versus [ˈkøːdɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kapern" or "ködern"?
"kapern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,220 in our German list, against #44,033 for "ködern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kapern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ködern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,554 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kapern" and "ködern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kapern vs kapier". 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 #160,554 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