Which to use
“kenne” is a verb and “Kerze” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #882
- “kenne” frequency rank
- #12,517
- “Kerze” frequency rank
- 13399
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kenne | Kerze |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kennen | Leuchtmittel mit offener Flamme; bestehend aus Wachs |
Where the eye mixes kenne and Kerze
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kenne and Kerze follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses kenne with Kerze
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kenne is [ˈkɛnə] while Kerze is [ˈkɛʁt͡sə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kenne is recorded at frequency rank #882, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɛnə]. Kerze is at rank #12,517, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛʁt͡sə].
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 13399, this pair ranks #1,958,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kenne vs Kerze
Shared letters: ek. Private to "kenne": n. Private to "Kerze": rz.
"kenne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Kerze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kenne" and "Kerze" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "kenne" or "Kerze"?
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 "kenne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kerze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,958,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kenne" and "Kerze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs Kerze". 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 #1,958,249 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.