SenkevssinkenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#32,265
“Senke” frequency rank
#5,763
“sinken” frequency rank
38028
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Senke sinken
Definition flache Vertiefung im Boden untergehen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Senke and sinken apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Senke
6 ch
sinken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Senke is [ˈzɛŋkə] while sinken is [ˈzɪŋkn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38028, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Senke is recorded at frequency rank #32,265, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛŋkə]. sinken is at rank #5,763, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪŋkn̩].

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 38028, this pair ranks #1,574,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Senke vs sinken

Shared letters: ekns. Private to "Senke": -. Private to "sinken": i.

"Senke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sinken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Senkeesnke · sekne · senek · senkke · sennke · sneke · ssenke
  • sinkenisnken · siknen · sinekn · sinkenn · sinkken · sinkne · sinnken · sniken

Frequency comparison

Senke#32,265
sinken#5,763

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Senke" and "sinken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Senke" is a noun and "sinken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Senke" or "sinken"?
"sinken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,763 in our German list, against #32,265 for "Senke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Senke vs sinken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Senke”; for a verb, it's “sinken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Senke” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list