prägtenvsprahlenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,459
“prägten” frequency rank
#38,952
“prahlen” frequency rank
66411
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prägten prahlen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs prägen sich übertrieben oder unangemessen loben

Where the eye mixes prägten and prahlen

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

7 ch
prägten
7 ch
prahlen

Look-alike desk: prägten vs prahlen

A purely visual mix-up. prägten ([ˈpʁɛːktn̩]) and prahlen ([ˈpʁaːlən]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prägten is recorded at frequency rank #27,459, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpʁɛːktn̩]. prahlen is at rank #38,952, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpʁaːlən].

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 66411, this pair ranks #574,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prägten vs prahlen

Shared letters: enpr. Private to "prägten": gtä. Private to "prahlen": ahl.

"prägten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "prahlen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prahlen ← parhlen · pprahlen · praheln · prahhlen · prahlenn · prahllen · prahlne · pralhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "prägten" for "prahlen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpʁɛːktn̩] versus [ˈpʁaːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "prägten" or "prahlen"?
"prägten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,459 in our German list, against #38,952 for "prahlen". 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 "prägten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prahlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #574,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prägten" and "prahlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prahlen vs pralle". 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 #574,186 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