Which to use
“sank” and “sinkt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,128
- “sank” frequency rank
- #5,649
- “sinkt” frequency rank
- 13777
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sank | sinkt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sinken | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sinken |
Where the eye mixes sank and sinkt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sank runs 4 letters (CVCC) against sinkt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sank with sinkt
A purely visual mix-up. sank ([zaŋk]) and sinkt ([zɪŋkt]) 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 13777, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sank is recorded at frequency rank #8,128, classified as averb, pronounced [zaŋk]. sinkt is at rank #5,649, tagged as averb, pronounced [zɪŋkt].
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 13777, this pair ranks #1,955,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sank vs sinkt
Shared letters: kns. Private to "sank": a. Private to "sinkt": it.
"sank" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sinkt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sank" and "sinkt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "sank" vs "sinkt" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sank" and "sinkt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sank" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sinkt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,955,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sank" and "sinkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sake vs sank". 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 #1,955,771 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.