Which to use
“kauen” and “krähen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,394
- “kauen” frequency rank
- #26,490
- “krähen” frequency rank
- 48884
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kauen | krähen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nahrung mit den Zähnen, durch wiederholtes Öffnen und Schließen der Kiefer, zerkleinern | den typischen Tierlaut eines Hahnes machen |
Where the eye mixes kauen and krähen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kauen runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against krähen's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses kauen with krähen
A purely visual mix-up. kauen ([ˈkaʊ̯ən]) and krähen ([ˈkʁɛːən]) 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 48884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kauen is recorded at frequency rank #22,394, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkaʊ̯ən]. krähen is at rank #26,490, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁɛːən].
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 48884, this pair ranks #1,231,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kauen vs krähen
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "kauen": au. Private to "krähen": hrä.
"kauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "krähen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kauen ← akuen · kaeun · kauenn · kaune · kkauen · kuaen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kauen" for "krähen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kauen" vs "krähen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "kauen" and "krähen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "krähen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,231,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kauen" and "krähen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "krähen vs kräht". 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 #1,231,937 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.