KranvsKrausTell them apart

Quick tell: Kran is a noun, Kraus is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kran” is a noun and “Kraus” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,605
“Kran” frequency rank
#10,889
“Kraus” frequency rank
29494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kran Kraus
Definition manuell oder motorisch betriebene, mit einem (beweglichen) Ausleger versehene Vorrichtung, mithilfe derer Lasten oder sperrige Gegenstände gehoben und/oder versetzt werden deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Where the eye mixes Kran and Kraus

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

4 ch
Kran
5 ch
Kraus

Why the eye confuses Kran with Kraus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kran is [kʁaːn] while Kraus is [kʁaʊ̯s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kran is recorded at frequency rank #18,605, classified as anoun, pronounced [kʁaːn]. Kraus is at rank #10,889, tagged as aname, pronounced [kʁaʊ̯s].

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 29494, this pair ranks #1,765,779 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kran vs Kraus

Shared letters: akr. Private to "Kran": n. Private to "Kraus": su.

"Kran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Kraus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Krankarn · kkran · krann · krna · krran · rkan
  • Krauskarus · kkraus · krasu · krraus · kruas · rkaus

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kran" and "Kraus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kran" is a noun and "Kraus" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Kran" vs "Kraus" - which ranks higher?
"Kraus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,889 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kraus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,765,779 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kran" and "Kraus" 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 #1,765,779 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