krachenvskrachteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,413
“krachen” frequency rank
#42,634
“krachte” frequency rank
58047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature krachen krachte
Definition ein lautes Geräusch von sich geben, wenn jemand/etwas schnell gegen etwas prallt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs krachen

Where the eye mixes krachen and krachte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. krachen (CCVCCVC) and krachte (CCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
krachen
7 ch
krachte

Visual trap between krachen and krachte

A purely visual mix-up. krachen ([ˈkʁaxn̩]) and krachte ([ˈkʁaxtə]) 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 58047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

krachen is recorded at frequency rank #15,413, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁaxn̩]. krachte is at rank #42,634, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁaxtə].

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 58047, this pair ranks #877,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of krachen vs krachte

Shared letters: acehkr. Private to "krachen": n. Private to "krachte": t.

"krachen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "krachte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • krachen ← karchen · kkrachen · kracchen · kracehn · krachenn · krachhen · krachne · krahcen
  • krachte ← karchte · kkrachte · kracchte · krachet · krachhte · krachtte · kracthe · krahcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "krachen" and "krachte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁaxn̩] versus [ˈkʁaxtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "krachen" or "krachte"?
"krachen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,413 in our German list, against #42,634 for "krachte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "krachen" and "krachte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "krachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "krachte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #877,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "krachen" and "krachte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "krachte vs kräht". 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 #877,849 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