rankingvswhichWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ranking is a verb, which is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

“ranking” is a verb and “which” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,729
“ranking” frequency rank
#12,204
“which” frequency rank
22933
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ranking which
Definition Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs rank welche?

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ranking and which apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
ranking
5 ch
which

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ranking is averb and whichapronoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ranking is recorded at frequency rank #10,729, classified as averb, pronounced […]. which is at rank #12,204, tagged as apron, 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 22933, this pair ranks #1,867,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ranking vs which

Shared letters: i. Private to "ranking": agknr. Private to "which": chw.

"ranking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "which" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ranking ← arnking · rakning · ranikng · rankign · rankingg · rankinng · rankking · ranknig
  • which ← hwich · whcih · whhich · whicch · whichh · whihc · wihch · wwhich

Frequency comparison

ranking#10,729
which#12,204

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ranking" and "which" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ranking" is a verb and "which" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ranking" or "which"?
"ranking" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,729 in our German list, against #12,204 for "which". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ranking vs which

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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