Which to use
“guck” and “gucken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,451
- “guck” frequency rank
- #2,722
- “gucken” frequency rank
- 6173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | guck | gucken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gucken | seine Augen auf etwas richten |
Where the eye mixes guck and gucken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: guck vs gucken
A purely visual mix-up. guck ([ɡʊk]) and gucken ([ˈɡʊkn̩]) 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) - “guck” sits inside “gucken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
guck is recorded at frequency rank #3,451, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡʊk]. gucken is at rank #2,722, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡʊkn̩].
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 6173, this pair ranks #1,992,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of guck vs gucken
Shared letters: cgku. Private to "guck": -. Private to "gucken": en.
"guck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "gucken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "guck" and "gucken" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "guck" or "gucken" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "guck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gucken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,992,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "guck" and "gucken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gockel vs gucken". 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 #1,992,483 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.