grain / schnapps / sight
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grain
The individual seed of a cereal plant such as wheat, rye, or barley.
Ein einzelnes Korn Weizen ist winzig, aber zusammen ergeben sie ein ganzes Feld.
A single grain of wheat is tiny, but together they make up an entire field.
The article is crucial: 'das Korn' refers to grain or a small particle. 'der Korn', on the other hand, always refers to the schnapps distilled from grain.
Das Korn auf dem Feld ist reif für die Ernte.
The grain in the field is ready for harvest.
The ending '-korn' is often used to describe a single small particle of something. Examples are 'Sandkorn' (grain of sand), 'Reiskorn' (grain of rice), or 'Staubkorn' (speck of dust).
Ein einzelnes Reiskorn lag noch auf dem Teller.
A single grain of rice was still lying on the plate.
'Das Korn' can be countable when it means an individual seed grain ('ein Korn' — one grain). But it can also be uncountable when it refers to grain as a whole ('das Korn' — the grain).
Der Vogel pickte ein Korn vom Boden auf.
The bird picked up a grain from the ground.
When 'Korn' means grain, it is often combined with verbs from agriculture, for example 'Korn anbauen' (to grow grain), 'Korn ernten' (to harvest grain), or 'Korn mahlen' (to mill grain).
Die Mühle mahlt das Korn zu feinem Mehl.
The mill grinds the grain into fine flour.
The idiom 'jemanden/etwas aufs Korn nehmen' comes from the meaning 'sighting device'. It means to focus on someone or something in order to observe, criticize, or make fun of them.
Der Komiker nahm in seinem Programm die aktuelle Politik aufs Korn.
In his program, the comedian took current politics to task.
core / pit / nucleus
'der Kern' and 'das Korn' can both be small, hard parts, especially in plants or foods. 'der Kern' usually means the inner part of a fruit, for example in an apple or a cherry. 'das Korn' is an individual cereal grain, such as wheat, or a small hard particle like a grain of sand. Learners can easily confuse the words because they sound almost the same and are spelled similarly. The important point is: a fruit often has a 'Kern'; grain consists of 'Körner'.
Ein Korn Reis fiel auf den Boden, als Mehmet den Beutel öffnete.
A grain of rice fell onto the floor when Mehmet opened the bag.
Bitte wirf den Kern der Pflaume nicht in den Biomüll-Eimer ohne Tüte.
Please don't throw the plum pit into the organic waste bin without a bag.