KorkvsKorkenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,297
“Kork” frequency rank
#38,859
“Korken” frequency rank
82156
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kork Korken
Definition 2,5 bis 20 cm dicke Rinde der Korkeiche (quercus suber), aus lückenlos aneinander schließenden Zellen, die für Flüssigkeiten und Gase schwer durchlässig sind Verschluss einer Flasche, der oftmals aus der Rinde der Korkeiche hergestellt ist

Where the eye mixes Kork and Korken

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

4 ch
Kork
6 ch
Korken

Why the eye confuses Kork with Korken

A purely visual mix-up. Kork ([kɔʁk]) and Korken ([ˈkɔʁkn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Kork” sits inside “Korken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kork is recorded at frequency rank #43,297, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɔʁk]. Korken is at rank #38,859, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɔʁkn̩].

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 82156, this pair ranks #162,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Kork vs Korken

Shared letters: kor. Private to "Kork": -. Private to "Korken": en.

"Kork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Korken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kork ← kkork · kokr · korkk · korrk · krok · okrk
  • Korken ← kkorken · kokren · korekn · korkenn · korkken · korkne · korrken · kroken

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kork" and "Korken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kɔʁk] versus [ˈkɔʁkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kork" vs "Korken" - which ranks higher?
"Korken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,859 in our German list, against #43,297 for "Kork". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kork" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Korken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #162,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kork" and "Korken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kola vs Kork". 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 #162,333 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