könnevskonntetTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,423
“könne” frequency rank
#46,080
“konntet” frequency rank
47503
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature könne konntet
Definition 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs können 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs können

Where the eye mixes könne and konntet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. könne runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against konntet's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
könne
7 ch
konntet

Visual trap between könne and konntet

A purely visual mix-up. könne ([ˈkœnə]) and konntet ([ˈkɔntət]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

könne is recorded at frequency rank #1,423, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkœnə]. konntet is at rank #46,080, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɔntət].

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 47503, this pair ranks #1,282,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of könne vs konntet

Shared letters: ekn. Private to "könne": ö. Private to "konntet": ot.

"könne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "konntet" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • konntet ← kkonntet · knontet · konnett · konntett · konnttet · kontet · kontnet · oknntet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "könne" and "konntet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkœnə] versus [ˈkɔntət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "könne" or "konntet"?
"könne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,423 in our German list, against #46,080 for "konntet". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "könne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "konntet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,282,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "könne" and "konntet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "konntet vs kontert". 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 #1,282,018 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