KrabbenvsKragenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,045
“Krabben” frequency rank
#10,682
“Kragen” frequency rank
50727
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Krabben Kragen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Krabbe den Hals einfassendes Teil der Kleidung

Where the eye mixes Krabben and Kragen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Krabben runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against Kragen's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Krabben
6 ch
Kragen

Look-alike desk: Krabben vs Kragen

A purely visual mix-up. Krabben ([ˈkʁabn̩]) and Kragen ([ˈkʁaːɡn̩]) 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 50727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Krabben is recorded at frequency rank #40,045, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁabn̩]. Kragen is at rank #10,682, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁaːɡn̩].

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 50727, this pair ranks #1,162,786 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Krabben vs Kragen

Shared letters: aeknr. Private to "Krabben": b. Private to "Kragen": g.

"Krabben" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Kragen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Krabben ← karbben · kkrabben · krabbenn · krabbne · krabebn · kraben · krbaben · krrabben
  • Kragen ← kkragen · kraegn · kragenn · kraggen · kragne · krgaen · krragen · rkagen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Krabben" for "Kragen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁabn̩] versus [ˈkʁaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Krabben" vs "Kragen" - which ranks higher?
"Kragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,682 in our German list, against #40,045 for "Krabben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Krabben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kragen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,162,786 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Krabben" and "Kragen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krabben vs Kraken". 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 #1,162,786 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