KrabbenvskrähenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#40,045
“Krabben” frequency rank
#26,490
“krähen” frequency rank
66535
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Krabben krähen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Krabbe den typischen Tierlaut eines Hahnes machen

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
Krabben
6 ch
krähen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Krabben is [ˈkʁabn̩] while krähen is [ˈkʁɛːən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66535, 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]. krähen is at rank #26,490, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁɛːən].

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 66535, this pair ranks #569,966 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Krabben vs krähen

Shared letters: eknr. Private to "Krabben": ab. Private to "krähen": .

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Krabbenkarbben · kkrabben · krabbenn · krabbne · krabebn · kraben · krbaben · krrabben

Frequency comparison

Krabben#40,045
krähen#26,490

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Krabben" and "krähen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Krabben" is a noun and "krähen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Krabben" or "krähen"?
"krähen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,490 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.

Remembering Krabben vs krähen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Krabben”; for a verb, it's “krähen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Krabben” 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