Which to use
“krallen” and “kranken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,283
- “krallen” frequency rank
- #5,507
- “kranken” frequency rank
- 24790
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | krallen | kranken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich mithilfe der Krallen oder Fingernägel an etwas festhalten | intransitiv, mit der Präposition an, Hilfsverb haben: |
Where the eye mixes krallen and kranken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. krallen and kranken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses krallen with kranken
A purely visual mix-up. krallen ([ˈkʁalən]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
krallen is recorded at frequency rank #19,283, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁalən]. 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 24790, this pair ranks #1,842,710 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of krallen vs kranken
Shared letters: aeknr. Private to "krallen": l. Private to "kranken": -.
"krallen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "kranken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "krallen" and "kranken" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "krallen" or "kranken" 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 "krallen" 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 #1,842,710 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "krallen" and "kranken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "krallen vs Krawallen". 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 #1,842,710 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.