Which to use
“krähen” and “kratzen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,490
- “krähen” frequency rank
- #15,138
- “kratzen” frequency rank
- 41628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | krähen | kratzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den typischen Tierlaut eines Hahnes machen | sich mit den Fingernägeln, Krallen oder ähnlichen spitzen, scharfen Dingen, die dazu geeignet sind, einen Abrieb zu verursachen, schaben |
Where the eye mixes krähen and kratzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. krähen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against kratzen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses krähen with kratzen
A purely visual mix-up. krähen ([ˈkʁɛːən]) and kratzen ([ˈkʁat͡sn̩]) 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 41628, 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]. kratzen is at rank #15,138, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁat͡sn̩].
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 41628, this pair ranks #1,473,741 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of krähen vs kratzen
Shared letters: eknr. Private to "krähen": hä. Private to "kratzen": atz.
"krähen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "kratzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kratzen ← kartzen · kkratzen · kratezn · krattzen · kratzenn · kratzne · kratzzen · krazten
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "krähen" and "kratzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "krähen" or "kratzen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "krähen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kratzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,473,741 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "krähen" and "kratzen" 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 #1,473,741 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.