runningvssecretsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,470
“running” frequency rank
#40,202
“secrets” frequency rank
55672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature running secrets
Definition Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs run 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs secret

Letter map: running vs secrets

Shared letters muted; letters that set running and secrets apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. running and secrets follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
running
7 ch
secrets

Pair insight - running / secrets

running and secrets are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 7 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

running is recorded at frequency rank #15,470, classified as averb, pronounced […]. secrets is at rank #40,202, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 55672, this pair ranks #970,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of running vs secrets

Shared letters: r. Private to "running": ginu. Private to "secrets": cest.

"running" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "secrets" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • runningrnuning · rrunning · runing · runinng · runnign · runningg · runninng · runnnig
  • secretsescrets · scerets · seccrets · secerts · secrest · secretss · secretts · secrrets

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "running" for "secrets" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 7 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "running" vs "secrets" - which ranks higher?
"running" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,470 in our German list, against #40,202 for "secrets". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "running" and "secrets".

  • Full dictionary entry for "running" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "secrets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #970,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "running" and "secrets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs secrets". 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 #970,404 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