pickenvsPinkeConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#45,512
“picken” frequency rank
#44,131
“Pinke” frequency rank
89643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature picken Pinke
Definition mit dem Schnabel auf etwas einhacken, insbesondere Futterkörner Segelschiff im Küstenmeer der Nord- und Ostsee

Where the eye mixes picken and Pinke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. picken runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Pinke's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
picken
5 ch
Pinke

Why the eye confuses picken with Pinke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: picken is [ˈpɪkn̩] while Pinke is [ˈpɪŋkə]. 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 89643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

picken is recorded at frequency rank #45,512, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpɪkn̩]. Pinke is at rank #44,131, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɪŋkə].

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 89643, this pair ranks #55,110 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of picken vs Pinke

Shared letters: eiknp. Private to "picken": c. Private to "Pinke": -.

"picken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Pinke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • picken ← ipcken · pciken · piccken · picekn · pickenn · pickken · pickne · pikcen
  • Pinke ← ipnke · pikne · pinek · pinkke · pinnke · pnike · ppinke

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "picken" and "Pinke" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "picken" is a verb and "Pinke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "picken" or "Pinke"?
"Pinke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,131 in our German list, against #45,512 for "picken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "picken" and "Pinke" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "picken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pinke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,110 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "picken" and "Pinke" 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 #55,110 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