KindevsKindernWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,467
“Kinde” frequency rank
#883
“Kindern” frequency rank
40350
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kinde Kindern
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Kind Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kind

Where the eye mixes Kinde and Kindern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Kinde
7 ch
Kindern

Visual trap between Kinde and Kindern

A purely visual mix-up. Kinde ([ˈkɪndə]) and Kindern ([ˈkɪndɐn]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Kinde” sits inside “Kindern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kinde is recorded at frequency rank #39,467, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɪndə]. Kindern is at rank #883, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɪndɐn].

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 40350, this pair ranks #1,511,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kinde vs Kindern

Shared letters: deikn. Private to "Kinde": -. Private to "Kindern": r.

"Kinde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kindern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kindeiknde · kidne · kindde · kined · kinnde · kkinde · knide
  • Kindernikndern · kidnern · kinddern · kindenr · kindernn · kinderrn · kindren · kinedrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kinde" and "Kindern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɪndə] versus [ˈkɪndɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kinde" vs "Kindern" - which ranks higher?
"Kindern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #883 in our German list, against #39,467 for "Kinde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kinde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kindern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,511,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kinde" and "Kindern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kandel vs Kinde". 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 #1,511,038 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list