pickenvsPinkenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#45,512
“picken” frequency rank
#44,133
“Pinken” frequency rank
89645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature picken Pinken
Definition mit dem Schnabel auf etwas einhacken, insbesondere Futterkörner Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pinke

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set picken and Pinken apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
picken
6 ch
Pinken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: picken is [ˈpɪkn̩] while Pinken is [ˈpɪŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “picken” becomes n in “Pinken”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89645, 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]. Pinken is at rank #44,133, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɪŋkn̩].

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 89645, this pair ranks #55,083 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of picken vs Pinken

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

"picken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Pinken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pickenipcken · pciken · piccken · picekn · pickenn · pickken · pickne · pikcen
  • Pinkenipnken · piknen · pinekn · pinkenn · pinkken · pinkne · pinnken · pniken

Frequency comparison

picken#45,512
Pinken#44,133

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "picken" and "Pinken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "picken" is a verb and "Pinken" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "picken" or "Pinken"?
"Pinken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,133 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.

Remembering picken vs Pinken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “picken”; for a noun, it's “Pinken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “picken” 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