reckenvsreisenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,416
“recken” frequency rank
#1,783
“reisen” frequency rank
43199
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recken reisen
Definition in Längsrichtung dehnen/strecken sich von einem Ort zum nächsten bewegen; eine Reise unternehmen

Where the eye mixes recken and reisen

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

6 ch
recken
6 ch
reisen

Visual trap between recken and reisen

A purely visual mix-up. recken ([ˈʁɛkn̩]) and reisen ([ˈʁaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 43199, 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]. reisen is at rank #1,783, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯zn̩].

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 43199, this pair ranks #1,425,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recken vs reisen

Shared letters: enr. Private to "recken": ck. Private to "reisen": is.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recken ← ercken · rceken · reccken · recekn · reckenn · reckken · reckne · rekcen
  • reisen ← erisen · reiesn · reisenn · reisne · reissen · resien · rreisen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "recken" and "reisen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɛkn̩] versus [ˈʁaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recken" vs "reisen" - which ranks higher?
"reisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,783 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "recken" and "reisen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,425,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recken" and "reisen" 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 #1,425,579 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