blicktenvsblinkenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,251
“blickten” frequency rank
#28,107
“blinken” frequency rank
67358
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blickten blinken
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs blicken rhythmisch kurze Lichtsignale aussenden

Where the eye mixes blickten and blinken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. blickten runs 8 letters (CCVCCCVC) against blinken's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
blickten
7 ch
blinken

Visual trap between blickten and blinken

A purely visual mix-up. blickten ([ˈblɪktn̩]) and blinken ([ˈblɪŋkn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67358, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blickten is recorded at frequency rank #39,251, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈblɪktn̩]. blinken is at rank #28,107, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈblɪŋkn̩].

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 67358, this pair ranks #542,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of blickten vs blinken

Shared letters: beikln. Private to "blickten": ct. Private to "blinken": -.

"blickten" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC  ·  "blinken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blickten ← bblickten · bilckten · blcikten · blicckten · blicketn · blickkten · blicktenn · blicktne
  • blinken ← bblinken · bilnken · bliknen · blinekn · blinkenn · blinkken · blinkne · blinnken

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blickten" and "blinken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈblɪktn̩] versus [ˈblɪŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "blickten" vs "blinken" - which ranks higher?
"blinken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,107 in our German list, against #39,251 for "blickten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "blickten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "blinken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #542,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "blickten" and "blinken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beichten vs blickten". 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 #542,770 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