rankingvsscratchTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,729
“ranking” frequency rank
#43,485
“scratch” frequency rank
54214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ranking scratch
Definition Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs rank kratzen

Letter map: ranking vs scratch

Shared letters muted; letters that set ranking and scratch apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. ranking (CVCCVCC) and scratch (CCCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
ranking
7 ch
scratch

Spelling & dictionary notes on ranking vs scratch

ranking and scratch are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 7 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ranking is recorded at frequency rank #10,729, classified as averb, pronounced […]. scratch is at rank #43,485, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 54214, this pair ranks #1,027,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ranking vs scratch

Shared letters: ar. Private to "ranking": gikn. Private to "scratch": chst.

"ranking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "scratch" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rankingarnking · rakning · ranikng · rankign · rankingg · rankinng · rankking · ranknig
  • scratchcsratch · scartch · sccratch · scracth · scratcch · scratchh · scrathc · scrattch

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ranking" for "scratch" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 7 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "ranking" vs "scratch" - which ranks higher?
"ranking" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,729 in our German list, against #43,485 for "scratch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ranking" and "scratch".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ranking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "scratch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,027,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ranking" and "scratch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs scratch". 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 #1,027,654 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