packevsPockenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#22,090
“packe” frequency rank
#34,854
“Pocken” frequency rank
56944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature packe Pocken
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs packen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pocke

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set packe and Pocken apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
packe
6 ch
Pocken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: packe is [ˈpakə] while Pocken is [ˈpɔkn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

packe is recorded at frequency rank #22,090, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpakə]. Pocken is at rank #34,854, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔkn̩].

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 56944, this pair ranks #920,644 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of packe vs Pocken

Shared letters: cekp. Private to "packe": a. Private to "Pocken": no.

"packe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Pocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • packeapcke · paccke · pacek · packke · pakce · pcake · ppacke
  • Pockenopcken · pcoken · poccken · pocekn · pockenn · pockken · pockne · pokcen

Frequency comparison

packe#22,090
Pocken#34,854

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "packe" and "Pocken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "packe" is a verb and "Pocken" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "packe" or "Pocken"?
"packe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,090 in our German list, against #34,854 for "Pocken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering packe vs Pocken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “packe”; for a noun, it's “Pocken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “packe” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list