schicktenvsschockenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,708
“schickten” frequency rank
#45,571
“schocken” frequency rank
65279
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schickten schocken
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schicken jemanden erschrecken

Where the eye mixes schickten and schocken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schickten runs 9 letters (CCCVCCCVC) against schocken's 8 (CCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
schickten
8 ch
schocken

Why the eye confuses schickten with schocken

A purely visual mix-up. schickten ([ˈʃɪktn̩]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65279, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schickten is recorded at frequency rank #19,708, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɪktn̩]. 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 65279, this pair ranks #612,364 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schickten vs schocken

Shared letters: cehkns. Private to "schickten": it. Private to "schocken": o.

"schickten" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCCVC  ·  "schocken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schicktencshickten · scchickten · schcikten · schhickten · schicckten · schicketn · schickkten · schicktenn
  • schockencshocken · scchocken · schcoken · schhocken · schoccken · schocekn · schockenn · schockken

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schickten" for "schocken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɪktn̩] versus [ˈʃɔkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schickten" or "schocken" show up more?
"schickten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,708 in our German list, against #45,571 for "schocken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "schickten" and "schocken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schickten" 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 #612,364 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schickten" 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 #612,364 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