kennevsKernerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#882
“kenne” frequency rank
#32,619
“Kerner” frequency rank
33501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kenne Kerner
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kennen 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 kenne and Kerner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
kenne
6 ch
Kerner

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kenne is [ˈkɛnə] while Kerner is [ˈkɛʁnɐ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kenne is recorded at frequency rank #882, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɛnə]. 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 33501, this pair ranks #1,684,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kenne vs Kerner

Shared letters: ekn. Private to "kenne": -. Private to "Kerner": r.

"kenne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kerner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kenneeknne · kene · kkenne · knene
  • Kernerekrner · kenrer · kerenr · kernerr · kernner · kernre · kerrner · kkerner

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kenne" and "Kerner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kenne" is a verb and "Kerner" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kenne" or "Kerner"?
"kenne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #882 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.

What to do next

You've compared "kenne" and "Kerner". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kenne" 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 #1,684,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kenne" 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list