hackenvshackingConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,485
“hacken” frequency rank
#43,941
“hacking” frequency rank
54426
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hacken hacking
Definition mit einem spitzen Werkzeug auflockern, zerkleinern, zerschlagen Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs hack

Letter map: hacken vs hacking

Shared letters muted; letters that set hacken and hacking apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. hacken runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against hacking's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
hacken
7 ch
hacking

Spelling & dictionary notes on hacken vs hacking

hacken and hacking are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hacken is recorded at frequency rank #10,485, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhakn̩]. hacking is at rank #43,941, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 54426, this pair ranks #1,019,389 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hacken vs hacking

Shared letters: achkn. Private to "hacken": e. Private to "hacking": gi.

"hacken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "hacking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hacken ← ahcken · haccken · hacekn · hackenn · hackken · hackne · hakcen · hcaken
  • hacking ← ahcking · haccking · hacikng · hackign · hackingg · hackinng · hackking · hacknig

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hacken" and "hacking" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "hacken" vs "hacking" - which ranks higher?
"hacken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,485 in our German list, against #43,941 for "hacking". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hacken" and "hacking".

  • Full dictionary entry for "hacken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hacking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,019,389 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hacken" and "hacking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hacking vs puzzles". 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 #1,019,389 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