pickenvspochenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#45,512
“picken” frequency rank
#25,262
“pochen” frequency rank
70774
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature picken pochen
Definition mit dem Schnabel auf etwas einhacken, insbesondere Futterkörner (rhythmisch) (gegen etwas) schlagen

Where the eye mixes picken and pochen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
picken
6 ch
pochen

Look-alike desk: picken vs pochen

A purely visual mix-up. picken ([ˈpɪkn̩]) and pochen ([ˈpɔxn̩]) 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 70774, 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]. pochen is at rank #25,262, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpɔxn̩].

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 70774, this pair ranks #436,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of picken vs pochen

Shared letters: cenp. Private to "picken": ik. Private to "pochen": ho.

"picken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pochen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pickenipcken · pciken · piccken · picekn · pickenn · pickken · pickne · pikcen
  • pochenopchen · pcohen · pocchen · pocehn · pochenn · pochhen · pochne · pohcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "picken" and "pochen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpɪkn̩] versus [ˈpɔxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "picken" or "pochen"?
"pochen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,262 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "picken" and "pochen" 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 "pochen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #436,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "picken" and "pochen" 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 #436,186 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