reckenvsreimenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,416
“recken” frequency rank
#34,881
“reimen” frequency rank
76297
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recken reimen
Definition in Längsrichtung dehnen/strecken Reime bilden

Where the eye mixes recken and reimen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. recken (CVCCVC) and reimen (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
recken
6 ch
reimen

Look-alike desk: recken vs reimen

A purely visual mix-up. recken ([ˈʁɛkn̩]) and reimen ([ˈʁaɪ̯mən]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76297, 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]. reimen is at rank #34,881, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯mən].

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 76297, this pair ranks #287,213 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recken vs reimen

Shared letters: enr. Private to "recken": ck. Private to "reimen": im.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recken ← ercken · rceken · reccken · recekn · reckenn · reckken · reckne · rekcen
  • reimen ← erimen · reiemn · reimenn · reimmen · reimne · remien · rreimen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recken" and "reimen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɛkn̩] versus [ˈʁaɪ̯mən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recken" or "reimen"?
"reimen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,881 in our German list, against #41,416 for "recken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reimen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #287,213 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recken" and "reimen" 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 #287,213 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