krähenvskrallenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,490
“krähen” frequency rank
#19,283
“krallen” frequency rank
45773
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature krähen krallen
Definition den typischen Tierlaut eines Hahnes machen sich mithilfe der Krallen oder Fingernägel an etwas festhalten

Where the eye mixes krähen and krallen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. krähen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against krallen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
krähen
7 ch
krallen

Look-alike desk: krähen vs krallen

A purely visual mix-up. krähen ([ˈkʁɛːən]) and krallen ([ˈkʁalən]) 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 45773, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

krähen is recorded at frequency rank #26,490, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁɛːən]. krallen is at rank #19,283, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁalən].

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 45773, this pair ranks #1,341,692 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of krähen vs krallen

Shared letters: eknr. Private to "krähen": hä. Private to "krallen": al.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • krallen ← karllen · kkrallen · kraleln · kralen · krallenn · krallne · krlalen · krrallen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "krähen" and "krallen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁɛːən] versus [ˈkʁalən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "krähen" or "krallen"?
"krallen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,283 in our German list, against #26,490 for "krähen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "krähen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "krallen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,341,692 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "krähen" and "krallen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "krähen 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 #1,341,692 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