PockenvspokernWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#34,854
“Pocken” frequency rank
#44,140
“pokern” frequency rank
78994
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pocken pokern
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pocke Poker spielen

Where the eye mixes Pocken and pokern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Pocken (CVCCVC) and pokern (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Pocken
6 ch
pokern

Why the eye confuses Pocken with pokern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pocken is [ˈpɔkn̩] while pokern is [ˈpoːkɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pocken is recorded at frequency rank #34,854, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔkn̩]. pokern is at rank #44,140, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpoːkɐn].

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 78994, this pair ranks #226,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Pocken vs pokern

Shared letters: eknop. Private to "Pocken": c. Private to "pokern": r.

"Pocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pokern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pocken ← opcken · pcoken · poccken · pocekn · pockenn · pockken · pockne · pokcen
  • pokern ← opkern · pkoern · poekrn · pokenr · pokernn · pokerrn · pokkern · pokren

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pocken" and "pokern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Pocken" is a noun and "pokern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Pocken" vs "pokern" - which ranks higher?
"Pocken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,854 in our German list, against #44,140 for "pokern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pocken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pokern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #226,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pocken" and "pokern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "picken vs Pocken". 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 #226,047 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