Which to use
“Kräften” is a noun and “kranken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,496
- “Kräften” frequency rank
- #5,507
- “kranken” frequency rank
- 13003
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kräften | kranken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kraft | intransitiv, mit der Präposition an, Hilfsverb haben: |
Where the eye mixes Kräften and kranken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kräften and kranken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Kräften and kranken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kräften is [ˈkʁɛftn̩] while kranken is [ˈkʁaŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kräften is recorded at frequency rank #7,496, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁɛftn̩]. kranken is at rank #5,507, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁaŋkn̩].
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 13003, this pair ranks #1,960,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Kräften vs kranken
Shared letters: eknr. Private to "Kräften": ftä. Private to "kranken": a.
"Kräften" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "kranken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kranken ← karnken · kkranken · kraknen · kranekn · krankenn · krankken · krankne · krannken
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Kräften" and "kranken" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Kräften" or "kranken" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kräften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kranken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,960,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kräften" and "kranken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klagten vs Kräften". 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 #1,960,725 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.