reckenvsReihenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#41,416
“recken” frequency rank
#3,843
“Reihen” frequency rank
45259
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recken Reihen
Definition in Längsrichtung dehnen/strecken veraltete Form für Reigen, also ein Tanzlied

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
recken
6 ch
Reihen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recken is [ˈʁɛkn̩] while Reihen is [ˈʁaɪ̯ən]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recken is recorded at frequency rank #41,416, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛkn̩]. Reihen is at rank #3,843, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯ən].

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 45259, this pair ranks #1,359,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recken vs Reihen

Shared letters: enr. Private to "recken": ck. Private to "Reihen": hi.

"recken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Reihen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reckenercken · rceken · reccken · recekn · reckenn · reckken · reckne · rekcen
  • Reihenerihen · rehien · reiehn · reihenn · reihhen · reihne · riehen · rreihen

Frequency comparison

recken#41,416
Reihen#3,843

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recken" and "Reihen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "recken" is a verb and "Reihen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "recken" or "Reihen"?
"Reihen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,843 in our German list, against #41,416 for "recken". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering recken vs Reihen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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