krähenvskrankenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,490
“krähen” frequency rank
#5,507
“kranken” frequency rank
31997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature krähen kranken
Definition den typischen Tierlaut eines Hahnes machen intransitiv, mit der Präposition an, Hilfsverb haben:

Where the eye mixes krähen and kranken

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

6 ch
krähen
7 ch
kranken

Why the eye confuses krähen with kranken

A purely visual mix-up. krähen ([ˈkʁɛːən]) and kranken ([ˈkʁaŋkn̩]) 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 31997, 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]. 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 31997, this pair ranks #1,716,923 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of krähen vs kranken

Shared letters: eknr. Private to "krähen": hä. Private to "kranken": a.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kranken ← karnken · kkranken · kraknen · kranekn · krankenn · krankken · krankne · krannken

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "krähen" and "kranken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁɛːən] versus [ˈkʁaŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "krähen" vs "kranken" - which ranks higher?
"kranken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,507 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.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "krähen" and "kranken" 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 "kranken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,716,923 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "krähen" and "kranken" 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 #1,716,923 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