kennevskönneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“kenne” and “könne” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#882
“kenne” frequency rank
#1,423
“könne” frequency rank
2305
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kenne könne
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kennen 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs können

Where the eye mixes kenne and könne

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

5 ch
kenne
5 ch
könne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. kenne ([ˈkɛnə]) and könne ([ˈkœnə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “kenne” becomes ö in “könne”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kenne is recorded at frequency rank #882, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɛnə]. könne is at rank #1,423, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkœnə].

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 2305, this pair ranks #2,002,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kenne vs könne

Shared letters: ekn. Private to "kenne": -. Private to "könne": ö.

"kenne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "könne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kenneeknne · kene · kkenne · knene

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kenne" and "könne" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛnə] versus [ˈkœnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kenne" or "könne"?
"kenne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #882 in our German list, against #1,423 for "könne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kenne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "könne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kenne" and "könne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kölle vs könne". 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