LöchernvslockenTell them apart

Quick tell: Löchern is a noun, locken is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Löchern” is a noun and “locken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,323
“Löchern” frequency rank
#6,692
“locken” frequency rank
25015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Löchern locken
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Loch Locken ins Haar machen

Where the eye mixes Löchern and locken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Löchern
6 ch
locken

Visual trap between Löchern and locken

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Löchern is [ˈlœçɐn] while locken is [ˈlɔkn̩]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Löchern is recorded at frequency rank #18,323, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlœçɐn]. locken is at rank #6,692, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɔkn̩].

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 25015, this pair ranks #1,839,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Löchern vs locken

Shared letters: celn. Private to "Löchern": hrö. Private to "locken": ko.

"Löchern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "locken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lockenlcoken · llocken · loccken · locekn · lockenn · lockken · lockne · lokcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Löchern" and "locken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Löchern" is a noun and "locken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Löchern" or "locken" show up more?
"locken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,692 in our German list, against #18,323 for "Löchern". 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 "Löchern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "locken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,839,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Löchern" and "locken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Löchern vs lockert". 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 #1,839,349 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