Which to use
“kehren” is a verb and “Ketten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,198
- “kehren” frequency rank
- #7,780
- “Ketten” frequency rank
- 14978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kehren | Ketten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sauber machen, etwas wegfegen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Kette |
Where the eye mixes kehren and Ketten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between kehren and Ketten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kehren is [ˈkeːʁən] while Ketten is [ˈkɛtn̩]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14978, 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]. Ketten is at rank #7,780, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛtn̩].
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 14978, this pair ranks #1,947,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kehren vs Ketten
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "kehren": hr. Private to "Ketten": t.
"kehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Ketten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kehren" for "Ketten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kehren" or "Ketten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "kehren" and "Ketten" 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 "Ketten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,947,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kehren" and "Ketten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ketten vs Kutter". 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 #1,947,350 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.