Which to use
“kühn” is an adjective and “kun” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,751
- “kühn” frequency rank
- #35,882
- “kun” frequency rank
- 48633
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kühn | kun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Gefahr trotzend und ihr entschlossen entgegentretend | mit |
Where the eye mixes kühn and kun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. kühn runs 4 letters (CVCC) against kun's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: kühn vs kun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kühn is [kyːn] while kun is [kun]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kühn is recorded at frequency rank #12,751, classified as anadj, pronounced [kyːn]. kun is at rank #35,882, tagged as aprep, pronounced [kun].
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 48633, this pair ranks #1,241,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kühn vs kun
Shared letters: kn. Private to "kühn": hü. Private to "kun": u.
"kühn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kühn" for "kun" ever safe?
Which is more common, "kühn" or "kun"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "kühn" and "kun" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kühn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,241,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kühn" and "kun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Koi vs kun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,241,355 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.