SchinkenvsschockenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#11,744
“Schinken” frequency rank
#45,571
“schocken” frequency rank
57315
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schinken schocken
Definition Fleisch der Schenkel von Schlachtvieh meist im engeren Sinne von Schweinen jemanden erschrecken

Where the eye mixes Schinken and schocken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Schinken 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
Schinken
8 ch
schocken

Look-alike desk: Schinken vs schocken

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schinken is [ˈʃɪŋkn̩] while schocken is [ˈʃɔkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schinken is recorded at frequency rank #11,744, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɪŋkn̩]. 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 57315, this pair ranks #906,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schinken vs schocken

Shared letters: cehkns. Private to "Schinken": i. Private to "schocken": o.

"Schinken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "schocken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schinkencshinken · scchinken · schhinken · schiknen · schinekn · schinkenn · schinkken · schinkne
  • schockencshocken · scchocken · schcoken · schhocken · schoccken · schocekn · schockenn · schockken

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Schinken" and "schocken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schinken" is a noun and "schocken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Schinken" or "schocken"?
"Schinken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,744 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schinken" 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 #906,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schinken" 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 #906,051 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