Which to use
“Kerne” and “Kerze” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,313
- “Kerne” frequency rank
- #12,517
- “Kerze” frequency rank
- 33830
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kerne | Kerze |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Kern | Leuchtmittel mit offener Flamme; bestehend aus Wachs |
Where the eye mixes Kerne and Kerze
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Kerne vs Kerze
A purely visual mix-up. Kerne ([ˈkɛʁnə]) and Kerze ([ˈkɛʁt͡sə]) 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 - n in “Kerne” becomes z in “Kerze”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kerne is recorded at frequency rank #21,313, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛʁnə]. 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 33830, this pair ranks #1,677,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Kerne vs Kerze
Shared letters: ekr. Private to "Kerne": n. Private to "Kerze": z.
"Kerne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Kerze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kerne" for "Kerze" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Kerne" vs "Kerze" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kerne" 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 #1,677,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kerne" and "Kerze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs Kerne". 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 #1,677,136 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.