Which to use
“Ranken” is a noun and “recken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,723
- “Ranken” frequency rank
- #41,416
- “recken” frequency rank
- 67139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ranken | recken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ranke | in Längsrichtung dehnen/strecken |
Where the eye mixes Ranken and recken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Ranken and recken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Ranken with recken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ranken is [ˈʁaŋkn̩] while recken is [ˈʁɛkn̩]. 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 67139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ranken is recorded at frequency rank #25,723, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaŋkn̩]. recken is at rank #41,416, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛkn̩].
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 67139, this pair ranks #550,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Ranken vs recken
Shared letters: eknr. Private to "Ranken": a. Private to "recken": c.
"Ranken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "recken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Ranken" and "recken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Ranken" vs "recken" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Ranken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #550,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ranken" and "recken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recken vs Rückens". 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 #550,010 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.