ködernvskonternTell them apart

Which to use

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

#44,033
“ködern” frequency rank
#29,197
“kontern” frequency rank
73230
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ködern kontern
Definition jemanden oder ein Tier anlocken, in eine Falle locken eine Rede oder Maßnahme mit Gegenrede oder -maßnahmen beantworten

Where the eye mixes ködern and kontern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ködern runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against kontern's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
ködern
7 ch
kontern

Why the eye confuses ködern with kontern

A purely visual mix-up. ködern ([ˈkøːdɐn]) and kontern ([ˈkɔntɐn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ködern is recorded at frequency rank #44,033, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkøːdɐn]. kontern is at rank #29,197, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɔntɐn].

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 73230, this pair ranks #366,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ködern vs kontern

Shared letters: eknr. Private to "ködern": dö. Private to "kontern": ot.

"ködern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "kontern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kontern ← kkontern · knotern · konetrn · konntern · kontenr · konternn · konterrn · kontren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ködern" for "kontern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkøːdɐn] versus [ˈkɔntɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ködern" vs "kontern" - which ranks higher?
"kontern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,197 in our German list, against #44,033 for "ködern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ködern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kontern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #366,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ködern" and "kontern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kapern vs ködern". 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 #366,105 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