Dictionary verb er verb *gno- kennen erkennen
(er verb)

Meanings

1.
to recognize, to realize
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The Difference Between "wissen" and "kennen"

'wissen' and 'kennen' both mean 'to know'. Today, we'll learn a really easy way to tell them apart. And no: it's not the kind of knowing as you usually hear.


The German Prefix "er-" explained

The prefix "er-" seems to be very confusing, but there's actually a common underlying theme. Today, we'll find out what that is and check out examples.


Word Family

Root: *gno-

The core idea of this root was

knowing

It’s the origin of can and to know and a big branch of Latin and Greek words that are all about knowledge in some way.
Here’s a little (incomplete) overview:

  • can, could (“knowledge, skill”)
  • to know, knowledge, acknowledge (“to know”)
  • cognition (“get to know”)
  • agnostic (“not knowing”)
  • ignore, ignorant (“not knowing”)
  • incognito (“unknown”)
  • connoisseur (“the knower”)
  • diagnose (“know about someone else”)
  • recognize (“know again”)
  • physiognomy (“knowledge of the physique”)
  • notice, notify
  • noble (“the known ones”)
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