kau vs ke, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#41,934
“kau” frequency rank: #20,973
“ke” frequency rank: 62907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	kau	ke
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kauen	2. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ Nichtadmirativ Aktiv zum Verb kam

Letter map: kau vs ke

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

3 ch

kau

2 ch

Pair insight - kau / ke

kau 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 62907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kau is recorded at frequency rank #41,934, classified as averb, pronounced [kaʊ̯]. 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 62907, this pair ranks #695,832 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kau vs ke

Shared letters: k. Private to "kau": au. Private to "ke": e.

"kau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "ke" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kau" and "ke" be used interchangeably?

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: "kau" vs "ke" - which ranks higher?

"ke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,973 in our German list, against #41,934 for "kau". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "kau" and "ke". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "kau" 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 #695,832 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"kau" and "ke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kau vs KGaA". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #695,832 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.