KeimenvskennenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Keimen is a noun, kennen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Keimen” is a noun and “kennen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,144
“Keimen” frequency rank
#733
“kennen” frequency rank
33877
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Keimen kennen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Keim über jemanden/etwas Bescheid wissen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Keimen and kennen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Keimen
6 ch
kennen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Keimen is [ˈkaɪ̯mən] while kennen is [ˈkɛnən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Keimen is recorded at frequency rank #33,144, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯mən]. kennen is at rank #733, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɛnən].

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 33877, this pair ranks #1,676,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Keimen vs kennen

Shared letters: ekn. Private to "Keimen": im. Private to "kennen": -.

"Keimen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "kennen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Keimenekimen · keiemn · keimenn · keimmen · keimne · kemien · kiemen · kkeimen
  • kenneneknnen · kenen · kenenn · kennenn · kennne · kkennen · knenen

Frequency comparison

Keimen#33,144
kennen#733

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Keimen" and "kennen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Keimen" is a noun and "kennen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Keimen" or "kennen"?
"kennen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #733 in our German list, against #33,144 for "Keimen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Keimen vs kennen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Keimen”; for a verb, it's “kennen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Keimen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list