kaudervskauenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,193
“kauder” frequency rank
#22,394
“kauen” frequency rank
47587
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kauder kauen
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kaudern Nahrung mit den Zähnen, durch wiederholtes Öffnen und Schließen der Kiefer, zerkleinern

Where the eye mixes kauder and kauen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kauder runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against kauen's 5 (CVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
kauder
5 ch
kauen

Why the eye confuses kauder with kauen

A purely visual mix-up. kauder ([ˈkaʊ̯dɐ]) and kauen ([ˈkaʊ̯ən]) 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 47587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kauder is recorded at frequency rank #25,193, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʊ̯dɐ]. kauen is at rank #22,394, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʊ̯ən].

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 47587, this pair ranks #1,279,110 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kauder vs kauen

Shared letters: aeku. Private to "kauder": dr. Private to "kauen": n.

"kauder" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "kauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kauder ← akuder · kaduer · kaudder · kauderr · kaudre · kauedr · kkauder · kuader
  • kauen ← akuen · kaeun · kauenn · kaune · kkauen · kuaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kauder" for "kauen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaʊ̯dɐ] versus [ˈkaʊ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kauder" or "kauen"?
"kauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,394 in our German list, against #25,193 for "kauder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "kauder" and "kauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kauder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,279,110 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kauder" and "kauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kauder vs Käufers". 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 #1,279,110 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