KrähevskrähenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,466
“Krähe” frequency rank
#26,490
“krähen” frequency rank
62956
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Krähe krähen
Definition ein Rabenvogel mit starkem Schnabel (mittelgroße Arten der Gattung Corvus) den typischen Tierlaut eines Hahnes machen

Where the eye mixes Krähe and krähen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Krähe
6 ch
krähen

Why the eye confuses Krähe with krähen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Krähe is [ˈkʁɛːə] while krähen is [ˈkʁɛːən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Krähe” sits inside “krähen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Krähe is recorded at frequency rank #36,466, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁɛːə]. 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 62956, this pair ranks #694,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Krähe vs krähen

Shared letters: ehkrä. Private to "Krähe": -. Private to "krähen": n.

"Krähe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "krähen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Krähe" and "krähen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Krähe" is a noun and "krähen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Krähe" or "krähen" show up more?
"krähen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,490 in our German list, against #36,466 for "Krähe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Krähe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "krähen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #694,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Krähe" and "krähen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krähe vs Kroate". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #694,022 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