Which to use
“recken” and “rückten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,416
- “recken” frequency rank
- #22,122
- “rückten” frequency rank
- 63538
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recken | rückten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in Längsrichtung dehnen/strecken | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs rücken |
Where the eye mixes recken and rückten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recken runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against rückten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between recken and rückten
A purely visual mix-up. recken ([ˈʁɛkn̩]) and rückten ([ˈʁʏktn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63538, 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]. rückten is at rank #22,122, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁʏktn̩].
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 63538, this pair ranks #673,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recken vs rückten
Shared letters: ceknr. Private to "recken": -. Private to "rückten": tü.
"recken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "rückten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- recken ← ercken · rceken · reccken · recekn · reckenn · reckken · reckne · rekcen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recken" and "rückten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "recken" or "rückten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "recken" and "rückten" 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 "rückten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #673,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recken" and "rückten" 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 #673,253 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.