schlankenvsSchrankeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: schlanken is a adjective, Schranke is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“schlanken” is an adjective and “Schranke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,709
“schlanken” frequency rank
#19,031
“Schranke” frequency rank
38740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schlanken Schranke
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schlank Vorrichtung zur Absperrung

Where the eye mixes schlanken and Schranke

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

9 ch
schlanken
8 ch
Schranke

Visual trap between schlanken and Schranke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schlanken is [ˈʃlaŋkn̩] while Schranke is [ˈʃʁaŋkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schlanken is recorded at frequency rank #19,709, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃlaŋkn̩]. Schranke is at rank #19,031, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʁaŋkə].

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 38740, this pair ranks #1,555,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schlanken vs Schranke

Shared letters: acehkns. Private to "schlanken": l. Private to "Schranke": r.

"schlanken" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC  ·  "Schranke" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schlanken ← cshlanken · scchlanken · schalnken · schhlanken · schlaknen · schlanekn · schlankenn · schlankken
  • Schranke ← cshranke · scchranke · scharnke · schhranke · schrakne · schranek · schrankke · schrannke

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schlanken" for "Schranke" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schlanken" is an adjective and "Schranke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schlanken" or "Schranke"?
"Schranke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,031 in our German list, against #19,709 for "schlanken". 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 "schlanken" and "Schranke" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schlanken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schranke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,555,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schlanken" and "Schranke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schlanken vs schwanke". 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 #1,555,857 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