KernvsKorkWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,602
“Kern” frequency rank
#43,297
“Kork” frequency rank
45899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kern Kork
Definition in der Mitte befindlicher Hauptbestandteil eines Ganzen; Basis, Zentrum 2,5 bis 20 cm dicke Rinde der Korkeiche (quercus suber), aus lückenlos aneinander schließenden Zellen, die für Flüssigkeiten und Gase schwer durchlässig sind

Where the eye mixes Kern and Kork

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Kern
4 ch
Kork

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Kern ([kɛʁn]) and Kork ([kɔʁk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kern is recorded at frequency rank #2,602, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɛʁn]. Kork is at rank #43,297, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɔʁk].

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 45899, this pair ranks #1,337,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kern vs Kork

Shared letters: kr. Private to "Kern": en. Private to "Kork": o.

"Kern" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kernekrn · kenr · kernn · kerrn · kkern · kren
  • Korkkkork · kokr · korkk · korrk · krok · okrk

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kern" and "Kork" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kɛʁn] versus [kɔʁk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kern" or "Kork"?
"Kern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,602 in our German list, against #43,297 for "Kork". 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 "Kern" and "Kork". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kork" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,337,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kern" and "Kork" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kola vs Kork". 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