PinkenvsPockenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#44,133
“Pinken” frequency rank
#34,854
“Pocken” frequency rank
78987
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pinken Pocken
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pinke Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pocke

Where the eye mixes Pinken and Pocken

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

6 ch
Pinken
6 ch
Pocken

Visual trap between Pinken and Pocken

A purely visual mix-up. Pinken ([ˈpɪŋkn̩]) and Pocken ([ˈpɔkn̩]) 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 78987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pinken is recorded at frequency rank #44,133, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɪŋkn̩]. Pocken is at rank #34,854, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔkn̩].

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 78987, this pair ranks #226,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Pinken vs Pocken

Shared letters: eknp. Private to "Pinken": i. Private to "Pocken": co.

"Pinken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Pocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pinken ← ipnken · piknen · pinekn · pinkenn · pinkken · pinkne · pinnken · pniken
  • Pocken ← opcken · pcoken · poccken · pocekn · pockenn · pockken · pockne · pokcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pinken" and "Pocken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpɪŋkn̩] versus [ˈpɔkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Pinken" or "Pocken" show up more?
"Pocken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,854 in our German list, against #44,133 for "Pinken". 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 "Pinken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pocken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #226,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pinken" and "Pocken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pinken vs Planken". 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 #226,187 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