hinkenvshockenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,733
“hinken” frequency rank
#20,298
“hocken” frequency rank
55031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hinken hocken
Definition schaukelnd gehen mit stark angewinkelten Knien aufrecht sitzen

Where the eye mixes hinken and hocken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hinken and hocken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
hinken
6 ch
hocken

Visual trap between hinken and hocken

A purely visual mix-up. hinken ([ˈhɪŋkn̩]) and hocken ([ˈhɔkn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55031, 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]. hocken is at rank #20,298, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɔkn̩].

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 55031, this pair ranks #995,401 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hinken vs hocken

Shared letters: ehkn. Private to "hinken": i. Private to "hocken": co.

"hinken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "hocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hinken ← hhinken · hiknen · hinekn · hinkenn · hinkken · hinkne · hinnken · hniken
  • hocken ← hcoken · hhocken · hoccken · hocekn · hockenn · hockken · hockne · hokcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hinken" and "hocken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɪŋkn̩] versus [ˈhɔkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hinken" vs "hocken" - which ranks higher?
"hocken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,298 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 "hocken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #995,401 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hinken" and "hocken" 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 #995,401 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