scannenvsScannerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#20,396
“scannen” frequency rank
#15,741
“Scanner” frequency rank
36137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scannen Scanner
Definition Printmedien mit Hilfe eines Scanners digitalisieren Gerät zur berührungslosen digitalen Datenerfassung

Where the eye mixes scannen and Scanner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. scannen and Scanner follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
scannen
7 ch
Scanner

Why the eye confuses scannen with Scanner

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scannen is [ˈskɛnən] while Scanner is [ˈskɛnɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “scannen” becomes r in “Scanner”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scannen is recorded at frequency rank #20,396, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈskɛnən]. Scanner is at rank #15,741, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈskɛnɐ].

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 36137, this pair ranks #1,623,011 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of scannen vs Scanner

Shared letters: acens. Private to "scannen": -. Private to "Scanner": r.

"scannen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Scanner" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scannen ← csannen · sacnnen · scanen · scanenn · scannenn · scannne · sccannen · scnanen
  • Scanner ← csanner · sacnner · scanenr · scaner · scannerr · scannre · sccanner · scnaner

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "scannen" and "Scanner" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scannen" is a verb and "Scanner" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "scannen" or "Scanner"?
"Scanner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,741 in our German list, against #20,396 for "scannen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Scanner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,623,011 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scannen" and "Scanner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Scanner vs Schoner". 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 #1,623,011 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