KeimvsKenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,273
“Keim” frequency rank
#8,893
“Ken” frequency rank
28166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Keim Ken
Definition Anfang, Beginn, erstes Anzeichen eine von 43 Präfekturen Japans, das insgesamt in 47 Verwaltungsbezirke geteilt ist

Letter map: Keim vs Ken

Shared letters muted; letters that set Keim and Ken apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
Keim
3 ch
Ken

Pair insight - Keim / Ken

Keim and Ken are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Keim is recorded at frequency rank #19,273, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaɪ̯m]. Ken is at rank #8,893, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 28166, this pair ranks #1,789,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Keim vs Ken

Shared letters: ek. Private to "Keim": im. Private to "Ken": n.

"Keim" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Ken" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Keimekim · keimm · kemi · kiem · kkeim

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Keim" and "Ken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary German text, does "Keim" or "Ken" show up more?
"Ken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,893 in our German list, against #19,273 for "Keim". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "Keim" vs "Ken" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Keim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,789,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Keim" and "Ken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Keim vs Koi". 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 #1,789,420 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