packenvspacktTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,546
“packen” frequency rank
#7,794
“packt” frequency rank
12340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature packen packt
Definition etwas zusammenlegen, zusammenfalten, wegräumen, in eine gepackte Form (Bündel, Packen, Paket) bringen, zubinden, zusammenkleben, in eine Verpackung tun 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs packen

Where the eye mixes packen and packt

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

6 ch
packen
5 ch
packt

Visual trap between packen and packt

A purely visual mix-up. packen ([ˈpakn̩]) and packt ([pakt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

packen is recorded at frequency rank #4,546, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpakn̩]. packt is at rank #7,794, tagged as averb, pronounced [pakt].

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 12340, this pair ranks #1,964,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of packen vs packt

Shared letters: ackp. Private to "packen": en. Private to "packt": t.

"packen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "packt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • packenapcken · paccken · pacekn · packenn · packken · packne · pakcen · pcaken
  • packtapckt · pacckt · packkt · packtt · pactk · pakct · pcakt · ppackt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "packen" and "packt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpakn̩] versus [pakt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "packen" or "packt" show up more?
"packen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,546 in our German list, against #7,794 for "packt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "packen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "packt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,964,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "packen" and "packt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "packt vs parkte". 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 #1,964,740 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