kümmerevskümmernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,987
“kümmere” frequency rank
#2,402
“kümmern” frequency rank
23389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kümmere kümmern
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kümmern reflexiv, mit „um“: für jemanden sorgen

Where the eye mixes kümmere and kümmern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. kümmere (CVCCVCV) and kümmern (CVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
kümmere
7 ch
kümmern

Look-alike desk: kümmere vs kümmern

A purely visual mix-up. kümmere ([ˈkʏməʁə]) and kümmern ([ˈkʏmɐn]) 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 a single letter - e in “kümmere” becomes n in “kümmern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kümmere is recorded at frequency rank #20,987, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏməʁə]. kümmern is at rank #2,402, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʏmɐn].

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 23389, this pair ranks #1,861,924 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kümmere vs kümmern

Shared letters: ekmrü. Private to "kümmere": -. Private to "kümmern": n.

"kümmere" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "kümmern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kümmere" and "kümmern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʏməʁə] versus [ˈkʏmɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "kümmere" or "kümmern" show up more?
"kümmern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,402 in our German list, against #20,987 for "kümmere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kümmere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kümmern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,861,924 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kümmere" and "kümmern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kümmere vs kümmerten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,861,924 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