knorrvsknowsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#31,645
“knorr” frequency rank
#42,625
“knows” frequency rank
74270
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature knorr knows
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs knorren 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs know

Where the eye mixes knorr and knows

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. knorr and knows follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
knorr
5 ch
knows

Look-alike desk: knorr vs knows

A purely visual mix-up. knorr ([knɔʁ]) and knows ([nəʊz]) 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 74270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

knorr is recorded at frequency rank #31,645, classified as averb, pronounced [knɔʁ]. knows is at rank #42,625, tagged as averb, pronounced [nəʊz].

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 74270, this pair ranks #337,874 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of knorr vs knows

Shared letters: kno. Private to "knorr": r. Private to "knows": sw.

"knorr" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "knows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • knorr ← kknorr · knnorr · knor · knror · konrr · nkorr
  • knows ← kknows · knnows · knosw · knowss · knowws · knwos · konws · nkows

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "knorr" and "knows" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([knɔʁ] versus [nəʊz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "knorr" or "knows"?
"knorr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,645 in our German list, against #42,625 for "knows". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "knorr" and "knows" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "knorr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "knows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #337,874 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "knorr" and "knows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knies vs knows". 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 #337,874 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