reckenvsRückenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#41,416
“recken” frequency rank
#1,400
“Rücken” frequency rank
42816
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recken Rücken
Definition in Längsrichtung dehnen/strecken hintere Fläche des Oberkörpers

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set recken and Rücken apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
recken
6 ch
Rücken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recken is [ˈʁɛkn̩] while Rücken is [ˈʁʏkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “recken” becomes ü in “Rücken”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42816, 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]. Rücken is at rank #1,400, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁʏkn̩].

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 42816, this pair ranks #1,437,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recken vs Rücken

Shared letters: ceknr. Private to "recken": -. Private to "Rücken": ü.

"recken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Rücken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reckenercken · rceken · reccken · recekn · reckenn · reckken · reckne · rekcen

Frequency comparison

recken#41,416
Rücken#1,400

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recken" and "Rücken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "recken" is a verb and "Rücken" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "recken" or "Rücken"?
"Rücken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,400 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 Rücken

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 “Rücken”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list