Which to use
“keine” is an unknown and “Kernel” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #79
- “keine” frequency rank
- #29,656
- “Kernel” frequency rank
- 29735
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | keine | Kernel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum attributiv des Indefinitpronomens kein | der Programm-Kern eines Betriebssystems |
Where the eye mixes keine and Kernel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: keine vs Kernel
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: keine is [ˈkaɪ̯nə] while Kernel is [ˈkœːɐ̯nl̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
keine is recorded at frequency rank #79, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯nə]. Kernel is at rank #29,656, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkœːɐ̯nl̩].
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 29735, this pair ranks #1,761,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of keine vs Kernel
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "keine": i. Private to "Kernel": lr.
"keine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "Kernel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "keine" and "Kernel" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "keine" or "Kernel" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "keine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kernel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,761,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "keine" and "Kernel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kernel vs Kerns". 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 #1,761,279 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.