hinkenvshinktWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,733
“hinken” frequency rank
#26,051
“hinkt” frequency rank
60784
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hinken hinkt
Definition schaukelnd gehen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hinken

Where the eye mixes hinken and hinkt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hinken runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against hinkt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
hinken
5 ch
hinkt

Why the eye confuses hinken with hinkt

A purely visual mix-up. hinken ([ˈhɪŋkn̩]) and hinkt ([hɪŋkt]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hinken is recorded at frequency rank #34,733, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪŋkn̩]. hinkt is at rank #26,051, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɪŋkt].

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 60784, this pair ranks #774,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hinken vs hinkt

Shared letters: hikn. Private to "hinken": e. Private to "hinkt": t.

"hinken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "hinkt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinkenhhinken · hiknen · hinekn · hinkenn · hinkken · hinkne · hinnken · hniken
  • hinkthhinkt · hiknt · hinkkt · hinktt · hinnkt · hintk · hnikt · ihnkt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hinken" and "hinkt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɪŋkn̩] versus [hɪŋkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hinken" or "hinkt"?
"hinkt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,051 in our German list, against #34,733 for "hinken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hinken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hinkt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #774,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hinken" and "hinkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinken vs hissen". 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 #774,203 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