HockvshockenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Hock is a noun, hocken is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Hock” is a noun and “hocken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,238
“Hock” frequency rank
#20,298
“hocken” frequency rank
55536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hock hocken
Definition geselliges Beisammensein mit stark angewinkelten Knien aufrecht sitzen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Hock and hocken apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Hock
6 ch
hocken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hock is [hɔk] while hocken is [ˈhɔkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Hock” sits inside “hocken”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hock is recorded at frequency rank #35,238, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɔk]. 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 55536, this pair ranks #975,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hock vs hocken

Shared letters: chko. Private to "Hock": -. Private to "hocken": en.

"Hock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hockhcok · hhock · hocck · hockk · hokc · ohck
  • hockenhcoken · hhocken · hoccken · hocekn · hockenn · hockken · hockne · hokcen

Frequency comparison

Hock#35,238
hocken#20,298

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hock" and "hocken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hock" is a noun and "hocken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Hock" or "hocken"?
"hocken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,298 in our German list, against #35,238 for "Hock". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Hock vs hocken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Hock”; for a verb, it's “hocken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Hock” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list