lockerevslockernWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,321
“lockere” frequency rank
#23,223
“lockern” frequency rank
41544
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lockere lockern
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lockern locker machen

Where the eye mixes lockere and lockern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. lockere (CVCCVCV) and lockern (CVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
lockere
7 ch
lockern

Visual trap between lockere and lockern

A purely visual mix-up. lockere ([ˈlɔkəʁə]) and lockern ([ˈlɔkɐn]) 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 - e in “lockere” becomes n in “lockern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lockere is recorded at frequency rank #18,321, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɔkəʁə]. lockern is at rank #23,223, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɔkɐn].

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 41544, this pair ranks #1,476,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lockere vs lockern

Shared letters: ceklor. Private to "lockere": -. Private to "lockern": n.

"lockere" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "lockern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lockerelcokere · llockere · locckere · locekre · lockeer · lockkere · lockree · lokcere
  • lockernlcokern · llockern · locckern · locekrn · lockenr · lockernn · lockerrn · lockkern

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lockere" for "lockern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɔkəʁə] versus [ˈlɔkɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "lockere" or "lockern" show up more?
"lockere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,321 in our German list, against #23,223 for "lockern". 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 "lockere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lockern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,476,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lockere" and "lockern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lockern 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 #1,476,261 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