KnabevsKräheConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,951
“Knabe” frequency rank
#36,466
“Krähe” frequency rank
55417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Knabe Krähe
Definition Kind männlichen Geschlechts ein Rabenvogel mit starkem Schnabel (mittelgroße Arten der Gattung Corvus)

Where the eye mixes Knabe and Krähe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Knabe and Krähe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Knabe
5 ch
Krähe

Look-alike desk: Knabe vs Krähe

A purely visual mix-up. Knabe ([ˈknaːbə]) and Krähe ([ˈkʁɛːə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Knabe is recorded at frequency rank #18,951, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈknaːbə]. Krähe is at rank #36,466, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁɛːə].

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 55417, this pair ranks #980,379 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Knabe vs Krähe

Shared letters: ek. Private to "Knabe": abn. Private to "Krähe": hrä.

"Knabe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Krähe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Knabe ← kanbe · kknabe · knabbe · knaeb · knbae · knnabe · nkabe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Knabe" for "Krähe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈknaːbə] versus [ˈkʁɛːə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Knabe" or "Krähe"?
"Knabe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,951 in our German list, against #36,466 for "Krähe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Knabe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Krähe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #980,379 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Knabe" and "Krähe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krähe vs Kroate". 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 #980,379 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