Which to use
“keinen” is an unknown and “kennen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #235
- “keinen” frequency rank
- #733
- “kennen” frequency rank
- 968
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | keinen | kennen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum des Indefinitpronomens keiner | über jemanden/etwas Bescheid wissen |
Where the eye mixes keinen and kennen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: keinen is [ˈkaɪ̯nən] while kennen is [ˈkɛnən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “keinen” becomes n in “kennen”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
keinen is recorded at frequency rank #235, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯nən]. 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 968, this pair ranks #2,005,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of keinen vs kennen
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "keinen": i. Private to "kennen": -.
"keinen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "kennen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "keinen" and "kennen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "keinen" or "kennen"?
What to do next
You've compared "keinen" and "kennen". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "keinen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kennen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "keinen" and "kennen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "keinen vs kneifen". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.