sichernvssichertenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,856
“sichern” frequency rank
#24,127
“sicherten” frequency rank
26983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sichern sicherten
Definition etwas vor Gefahren oder Zugriff bewahren, etwas sicher machen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sichern

Where the eye mixes sichern and sicherten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
sichern
9 ch
sicherten

Why the eye confuses sichern with sicherten

A purely visual mix-up. sichern ([ˈzɪçɐn]) and sicherten ([ˈzɪçɐtn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sichern is recorded at frequency rank #2,856, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪçɐn]. sicherten is at rank #24,127, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪçɐtn̩].

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 26983, this pair ranks #1,809,173 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sichern vs sicherten

Shared letters: cehinrs. Private to "sichern": -. Private to "sicherten": t.

"sichern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "sicherten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sichernischern · scihern · sicchern · sicehrn · sichenr · sichernn · sicherrn · sichhern
  • sichertenischerten · sciherten · siccherten · sicehrten · sicheretn · sicherrten · sichertenn · sichertne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sichern" and "sicherten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɪçɐn] versus [ˈzɪçɐtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sichern" or "sicherten"?
"sichern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,856 in our German list, against #24,127 for "sicherten". 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 "sichern" and "sicherten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sichern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sicherten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,809,173 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sichern" and "sicherten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schergen vs sicherten". 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 #1,809,173 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