KindevskönneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Kinde is a noun, könne is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kinde” is a noun and “könne” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,467
“Kinde” frequency rank
#1,423
“könne” frequency rank
40890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kinde könne
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Kind 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs können

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Kinde and könne apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Kinde
5 ch
könne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kinde is [ˈkɪndə] while könne is [ˈkœnə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40890, 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]. 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 40890, this pair ranks #1,495,398 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kinde vs könne

Shared letters: ekn. Private to "Kinde": di. Private to "könne": ö.

"Kinde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "könne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kindeiknde · kidne · kindde · kined · kinnde · kkinde · knide

Frequency comparison

Kinde#39,467
könne#1,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kinde" and "könne" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kinde" is a noun and "könne" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kinde" or "könne"?
"könne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,423 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.

Remembering Kinde vs könne

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Kinde”; for a verb, it's “könne”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Kinde” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list