pickenvspissenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,512
“picken” frequency rank
#16,514
“pissen” frequency rank
62026
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature picken pissen
Definition mit dem Schnabel auf etwas einhacken, insbesondere Futterkörner die Blase entleeren

Where the eye mixes picken and pissen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. picken and pissen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
picken
6 ch
pissen

Look-alike desk: picken vs pissen

A purely visual mix-up. picken ([ˈpɪkn̩]) and pissen ([ˈpɪsn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62026, 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]. pissen is at rank #16,514, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpɪsn̩].

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 62026, this pair ranks #727,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of picken vs pissen

Shared letters: einp. Private to "picken": ck. Private to "pissen": s.

"picken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pissen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • picken ← ipcken · pciken · piccken · picekn · pickenn · pickken · pickne · pikcen
  • pissen ← ipssen · pisen · pisesn · pissenn · pissne · pißen · ppissen · psisen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "picken" and "pissen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpɪkn̩] versus [ˈpɪsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "picken" or "pissen"?
"pissen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,514 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "picken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pissen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #727,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "picken" and "pissen" 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 #727,938 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