kühnenvsKursenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: kühnen is a adjective, Kursen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kühnen” is an adjective and “Kursen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,244
“kühnen” frequency rank
#15,139
“Kursen” frequency rank
53383
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kühnen Kursen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kühn Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kurs

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kühnen and Kursen apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
kühnen
6 ch
Kursen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kühnen is [ˈkyːnən] while Kursen is [ˈkʊʁzn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53383, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kühnen is recorded at frequency rank #38,244, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkyːnən]. Kursen is at rank #15,139, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʊʁzn̩].

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 53383, this pair ranks #1,060,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kühnen vs Kursen

Shared letters: ekn. Private to "kühnen": . Private to "Kursen": rsu.

"kühnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Kursen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kursenkkursen · krusen · kuresn · kurrsen · kursenn · kursne · kurssen · kusren

Frequency comparison

kühnen#38,244
Kursen#15,139

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kühnen" and "Kursen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kühnen" is an adjective and "Kursen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kühnen" or "Kursen"?
"Kursen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,139 in our German list, against #38,244 for "kühnen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kühnen vs Kursen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “kühnen”; for a noun, it's “Kursen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kühnen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list