BlechenvsblickenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Blechen is a noun, blicken is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Blechen” is a noun and “blicken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,972
“Blechen” frequency rank
#5,068
“blicken” frequency rank
37040
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Blechen blicken
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Blech seinen Blick auf jemanden/etwas wenden und es bewusst wahrnehmen

Where the eye mixes Blechen and blicken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Blechen
7 ch
blicken

Why the eye confuses Blechen with blicken

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Blechen is [ˈblɛçn̩] while blicken is [ˈblɪkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Blechen is recorded at frequency rank #31,972, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈblɛçn̩]. blicken is at rank #5,068, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈblɪkn̩].

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 37040, this pair ranks #1,600,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Blechen vs blicken

Shared letters: bceln. Private to "Blechen": h. Private to "blicken": ik.

"Blechen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "blicken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Blechenbblechen · belchen · blcehen · blecchen · blecehn · blechenn · blechhen · blechne
  • blickenbblicken · bilcken · blciken · bliccken · blicekn · blickenn · blickken · blickne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Blechen" and "blicken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Blechen" is a noun and "blicken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Blechen" or "blicken" show up more?
"blicken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,068 in our German list, against #31,972 for "Blechen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Blechen" and "blicken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Blechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "blicken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,600,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Blechen" and "blicken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Blechen vs Blocher". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,600,339 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