schenkenvsschockenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,383
“schenken” frequency rank
#45,571
“schocken” frequency rank
49954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schenken schocken
Definition jemandem etwas ohne Entgelt geben, das er behalten kann jemanden erschrecken

Where the eye mixes schenken and schocken

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

8 ch
schenken
8 ch
schocken

Look-alike desk: schenken vs schocken

A purely visual mix-up. schenken ([ˈʃɛŋkn̩]) and schocken ([ˈʃɔkn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schenken is recorded at frequency rank #4,383, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛŋkn̩]. schocken is at rank #45,571, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɔkn̩].

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 49954, this pair ranks #1,192,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schenken vs schocken

Shared letters: cehkns. Private to "schenken": -. Private to "schocken": o.

"schenken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "schocken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schenkencshenken · scchenken · scehnken · scheknen · schenekn · schenkenn · schenkken · schenkne
  • schockencshocken · scchocken · schcoken · schhocken · schoccken · schocekn · schockenn · schockken

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schenken" for "schocken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɛŋkn̩] versus [ˈʃɔkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schenken" or "schocken"?
"schenken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,383 in our German list, against #45,571 for "schocken". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schenken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schocken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,192,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schenken" and "schocken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schocken vs Schöffen". 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 #1,192,160 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