Which to use
“keine” is an unknown and “Kerns” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #79
- “keine” frequency rank
- #39,463
- “Kerns” frequency rank
- 39542
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | keine | Kerns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum attributiv des Indefinitpronomens kein | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Kern |
Where the eye mixes keine and Kerns
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. keine (CVVCV) and Kerns (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between keine and Kerns
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: keine is [ˈkaɪ̯nə] while Kerns is [kɛʁns]. 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 (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39542, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
keine is recorded at frequency rank #79, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯nə]. Kerns is at rank #39,463, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɛʁns].
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 39542, this pair ranks #1,533,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of keine vs Kerns
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "keine": i. Private to "Kerns": rs.
"keine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "Kerns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "keine" and "Kerns" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "keine" or "Kerns"?
What to do next
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 "Kerns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,533,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "keine" and "Kerns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kerns vs Kölns". 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 #1,533,875 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.