KornvsKranTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,396
“Korn” frequency rank
#18,605
“Kran” frequency rank
28001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Korn Kran
Definition Getreide manuell oder motorisch betriebene, mit einem (beweglichen) Ausleger versehene Vorrichtung, mithilfe derer Lasten oder sperrige Gegenstände gehoben und/oder versetzt werden

Where the eye mixes Korn and Kran

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Korn (CVCC) and Kran (CCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Korn
4 ch
Kran

Visual trap between Korn and Kran

A purely visual mix-up. Korn ([kɔʁn]) and Kran ([kʁaːn]) 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 28001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Korn is recorded at frequency rank #9,396, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɔʁn]. Kran is at rank #18,605, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁaːn].

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 28001, this pair ranks #1,792,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Korn vs Kran

Shared letters: knr. Private to "Korn": o. Private to "Kran": a.

"Korn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kornkkorn · konr · kornn · korrn · kron · okrn
  • Krankarn · kkran · krann · krna · krran · rkan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Korn" for "Kran" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kɔʁn] versus [kʁaːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Korn" vs "Kran" - which ranks higher?
"Korn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,396 in our German list, against #18,605 for "Kran". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Korn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,792,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Korn" and "Kran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kran vs krönt". 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 #1,792,277 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