senkenvsSenkungWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,879
“senken” frequency rank
#12,382
“Senkung” frequency rank
18261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature senken Senkung
Definition in eine niedrigere Position bringen Verringerung oder Verkleinerung eines Wertes

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set senken and Senkung apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
senken
7 ch
Senkung

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: senken is [ˈzɛŋkn̩] while Senkung is [ˈzɛŋkʊŋ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

senken is recorded at frequency rank #5,879, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɛŋkn̩]. Senkung is at rank #12,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛŋkʊŋ].

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 18261, this pair ranks #1,919,923 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of senken vs Senkung

Shared letters: ekns. Private to "senken": -. Private to "Senkung": gu.

"senken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Senkung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • senkenesnken · seknen · senekn · senkenn · senkken · senkne · sennken · sneken
  • Senkungesnkung · seknung · senkkung · senknug · senkugn · senkungg · senkunng · sennkung

Frequency comparison

senken#5,879
Senkung#12,382

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "senken" and "Senkung" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "senken" is a verb and "Senkung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "senken" or "Senkung"?
"senken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,879 in our German list, against #12,382 for "Senkung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering senken vs Senkung

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “senken”; for a noun, it's “Senkung”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “senken” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list