kenn

[kɛn]

/[kɛn]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“kenn” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,750) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#3,750
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kennen

Corpus desk

Index DE-kenn · kenn · German

kenn · rank #3,750 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,750
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kanada

Nearest frequency peer: Kanada (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „kenn“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „kenn“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

kenn vs key
50% similar
kenn vs kun
50% similar
kenn vs keV
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for kenn
PropertyValue
Headwordkenn
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[kɛn]
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,750
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „kenn“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.kennliegt auf dieser Marke:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Kanada“ (#3,749), „krass“ (#3,751), „Italienischen“ (#3,748). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „kenn“ bei #3,750. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for kenn is neighbouring look-alikes ("key", "kun", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced [kɛn]. Frequency #3,750 among 4,158 “K” headwords. Gloss: "2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kennen".

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for kenn, with forms such as "eknn", "kkenn", and "knen". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "key", "kun", "keV", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is kenn, spelled K-E-N-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kennen

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eknn
  • kkenn
  • knen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of kenn - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

eknn2kkenn1knen2
Edit distance from "kenn"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "kenn"?
"kenn" is spelled K-E-N-N. The IPA pronunciation is [kɛn].
What does "kenn" mean?
As a verb, "kenn" means: 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kennen
What words are commonly confused with "kenn"?
"kenn" is commonly confused with "key", "kun", "keV". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "kenn"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kenn" is [kɛn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "kenn" come from?
"kenn" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "kenn", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Kurt#3,753home#3,746Käse#3,754Heft#3,743

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list