Which to use
“kehren” and “kehrten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,198
- “kehren” frequency rank
- #16,196
- “kehrten” frequency rank
- 23394
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kehren | kehrten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sauber machen, etwas wegfegen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs kehren |
Where the eye mixes kehren and kehrten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: kehren vs kehrten
A purely visual mix-up. kehren ([ˈkeːʁən]) and kehrten ([ˈkeːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 23394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kehren is recorded at frequency rank #7,198, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkeːʁən]. kehrten is at rank #16,196, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkeːɐ̯tn̩].
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 23394, this pair ranks #1,861,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kehren vs kehrten
Shared letters: ehknr. Private to "kehren": -. Private to "kehrten": t.
"kehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "kehrten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kehren" and "kehrten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "kehren" or "kehrten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "kehren" and "kehrten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kehrten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,861,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kehren" and "kehrten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kehlen vs kehrten". 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 #1,861,877 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.