Which to use
“check” and “checken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,156
- “check” frequency rank
- #11,025
- “checken” frequency rank
- 16181
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | check | checken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs checken | neudeutsch, überprüfen |
Where the eye mixes check and checken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between check and checken
A purely visual mix-up. check ([t͡ʃɛk]) and checken ([ˈt͡ʃɛkn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “check” sits inside “checken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
check is recorded at frequency rank #5,156, classified as averb, pronounced [t͡ʃɛk]. checken is at rank #11,025, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃɛkn̩].
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 16181, this pair ranks #1,937,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of check vs checken
Shared letters: cehk. Private to "check": -. Private to "checken": n.
"check" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "checken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "check" for "checken" ever safe?
Frequency check: "check" vs "checken" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "check" and "checken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "check" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "checken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,937,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "check" and "checken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "check vs clock". 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 #1,937,907 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.