KramvsKranWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,234
“Kram” frequency rank
#18,605
“Kran” frequency rank
26839
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kram Kran
Definition wenig nützliches, wenig wertvolles Zeug manuell oder motorisch betriebene, mit einem (beweglichen) Ausleger versehene Vorrichtung, mithilfe derer Lasten oder sperrige Gegenstände gehoben und/oder versetzt werden

Where the eye mixes Kram and Kran

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Kram
4 ch
Kran

Look-alike desk: Kram vs Kran

A purely visual mix-up. Kram ([kʁaːm]) and Kran ([kʁaːn]) 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 a single letter - m in “Kram” becomes n in “Kran”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26839, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kram is recorded at frequency rank #8,234, classified as anoun, pronounced [kʁaːm]. Kran is at rank #18,605, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁaːn].

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 26839, this pair ranks #1,811,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kram vs Kran

Shared letters: akr. Private to "Kram": m. Private to "Kran": n.

"Kram" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Kran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kramkarm · kkram · kramm · krma · krram · rkam
  • Krankarn · kkran · krann · krna · krran · rkan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kram" for "Kran" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kʁaːm] versus [kʁaːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kram" vs "Kran" - which ranks higher?
"Kram" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,234 in our German list, against #18,605 for "Kran". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kram" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,811,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kram" and "Kran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kran vs krönt". 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 #1,811,549 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