Which to use
“pick” and “picken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,895
- “pick” frequency rank
- #45,512
- “picken” frequency rank
- 60407
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pick | picken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs picken | mit dem Schnabel auf etwas einhacken, insbesondere Futterkörner |
Where the eye mixes pick and picken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pick vs picken
A purely visual mix-up. pick ([pɪk]) and picken ([ˈpɪkn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “pick” sits inside “picken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pick is recorded at frequency rank #14,895, classified as averb, pronounced [pɪk]. 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 60407, this pair ranks #788,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pick vs picken
Shared letters: cikp. Private to "pick": -. Private to "picken": en.
"pick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "picken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pick" for "picken" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pick" vs "picken" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pick" and "picken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pick" 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 #788,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pick" 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 #788,188 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.