BlindervsblinkenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#20,535
“Blinder” frequency rank
#28,107
“blinken” frequency rank
48642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Blinder blinken
Definition Person, die nicht sehen kann rhythmisch kurze Lichtsignale aussenden

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Blinder and blinken apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Blinder
7 ch
blinken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Blinder is [ˈblɪndɐ] while blinken is [ˈblɪŋkn̩]. 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 48642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Blinder is recorded at frequency rank #20,535, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈblɪndɐ]. 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 48642, this pair ranks #1,241,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Blinder vs blinken

Shared letters: beiln. Private to "Blinder": dr. Private to "blinken": k.

"Blinder" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "blinken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Blinderbblinder · bilnder · blidner · blindder · blinderr · blindre · blinedr · blinnder
  • blinkenbblinken · bilnken · bliknen · blinekn · blinkenn · blinkken · blinkne · blinnken

Frequency comparison

Blinder#20,535
blinken#28,107

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Blinder" and "blinken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Blinder" is a noun and "blinken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Blinder" or "blinken"?
"Blinder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,535 in our German list, against #28,107 for "blinken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Blinder vs blinken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Blinder”; for a verb, it's “blinken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Blinder” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list