GurkevsGurkenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,945
“Gurke” frequency rank
#15,382
“Gurken” frequency rank
36327
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gurke Gurken
Definition eine Pflanzengattung in der Familie der Kürbisgewächse Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gurke

Where the eye mixes Gurke and Gurken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Gurke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Gurken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Gurke
6 ch
Gurken

Why the eye confuses Gurke with Gurken

A purely visual mix-up. Gurke ([ˈɡʊʁkə]) and Gurken ([ˈɡʊʁkŋ̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Gurke” sits inside “Gurken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gurke is recorded at frequency rank #20,945, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʊʁkə]. Gurken is at rank #15,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʊʁkŋ̩].

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 36327, this pair ranks #1,618,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gurke vs Gurken

Shared letters: egkru. Private to "Gurke": -. Private to "Gurken": n.

"Gurke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Gurken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gurke ← ggurke · gruke · gukre · gurek · gurkke · gurrke · ugrke
  • Gurken ← ggurken · gruken · gukren · gurekn · gurkenn · gurkken · gurkne · gurrken

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gurke" and "Gurken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡʊʁkə] versus [ˈɡʊʁkŋ̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gurke" or "Gurken"?
"Gurken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,382 in our German list, against #20,945 for "Gurke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gurke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gurken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,618,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gurke" and "Gurken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "guckte vs Gurke". 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 #1,618,377 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