Which to use
“Pauken” is a noun and “picken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,700
- “Pauken” frequency rank
- #45,512
- “picken” frequency rank
- 78212
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pauken | picken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pauke | mit dem Schnabel auf etwas einhacken, insbesondere Futterkörner |
Where the eye mixes Pauken and picken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Pauken (CVVCVC) and picken (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses Pauken with picken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pauken is [ˈpaʊ̯kn̩] while picken is [ˈpɪkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Pauken is recorded at frequency rank #32,700, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpaʊ̯kn̩]. picken is at rank #45,512, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpɪkn̩].
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 78212, this pair ranks #243,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Pauken vs picken
Shared letters: eknp. Private to "Pauken": au. Private to "picken": ci.
"Pauken" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "picken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Pauken" and "picken" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Pauken" or "picken" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Pauken" and "picken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Pauken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "picken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pauken" and "picken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "picken vs Pinken". 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 #243,338 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.