kau vs kun, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“kau” is a verb and “kun” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,934
“kau” frequency rank: #35,882
“kun” frequency rank: 77816
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	kau	kun
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kauen	mit

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kau and kun apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

kau

3 ch

kun

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kau is [kaʊ̯] while kun is [kun]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77816, 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]. kun is at rank #35,882, tagged as aprep, pronounced [kun].

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 77816, this pair ranks #252,240 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kau vs kun

Shared letters: ku. Private to "kau": a. Private to "kun": n.

"kau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "kun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

kau#41,934

kun#35,882

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kau" is a verb and "kun" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "kau" or "kun"?

"kun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,882 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.

Remembering kau vs kun

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “kau”; for a preposition, it's “kun”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kau” entry
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