PockenvspoppenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,854
“Pocken” frequency rank
#27,003
“poppen” frequency rank
61857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pocken poppen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pocke Geschlechtsverkehr haben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Pocken and poppen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Pocken
6 ch
poppen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pocken is [ˈpɔkn̩] while poppen is [ˈpɔpn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 61857, 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]. poppen is at rank #27,003, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpɔpn̩].

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 61857, this pair ranks #734,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pocken vs poppen

Shared letters: enop. Private to "Pocken": ck. Private to "poppen": -.

"Pocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "poppen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pockenopcken · pcoken · poccken · pocekn · pockenn · pockken · pockne · pokcen
  • poppenopppen · popen · popepn · poppenn · poppne · ppopen · ppoppen

Frequency comparison

Pocken#34,854
poppen#27,003

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pocken" and "poppen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Pocken" is a noun and "poppen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Pocken" or "poppen"?
"poppen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,003 in our German list, against #34,854 for "Pocken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Pocken vs poppen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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