keinervsKernerWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: keiner is a pronoun, Kerner is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“keiner” is a pronoun and “Kerner” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#547
“keiner” frequency rank
#32,619
“Kerner” frequency rank
33166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature keiner Kerner
Definition nicht einer; nicht ein einziger eine weiße Rebsorte, die 1929 aus einer Kreuzung von Trollinger und Riesling hervorgegangen ist (durchgeführt von August Herold an der Staatlichen Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Wein-, Obst- und Gartenbau in Weinsberg)

Where the eye mixes keiner and Kerner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. keiner (CVVCVC) and Kerner (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
keiner
6 ch
Kerner

Look-alike desk: keiner vs Kerner

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: keiner is [ˈkaɪ̯nɐ] while Kerner is [ˈkɛʁnɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “keiner” becomes r in “Kerner”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

keiner is recorded at frequency rank #547, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯nɐ]. Kerner is at rank #32,619, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛʁnɐ].

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 33166, this pair ranks #1,691,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of keiner vs Kerner

Shared letters: eknr. Private to "keiner": i. Private to "Kerner": -.

"keiner" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Kerner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • keiner ← ekiner · keienr · keinerr · keinner · keinre · kenier · kiener · kkeiner
  • Kerner ← ekrner · kenrer · kerenr · kernerr · kernner · kernre · kerrner · kkerner

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "keiner" and "Kerner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "keiner" is a pronoun and "Kerner" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "keiner" vs "Kerner" - which ranks higher?
"keiner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #547 in our German list, against #32,619 for "Kerner". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "keiner" and "Kerner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "keiner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kerner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,691,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "keiner" and "Kerner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kerner 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 #1,691,871 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