sichernvsSicherungWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,856
“sichern” frequency rank
#5,648
“Sicherung” frequency rank
8504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sichern Sicherung
Definition etwas vor Gefahren oder Zugriff bewahren, etwas sicher machen Bauteil, das bei zu hohen Strömen den Stromkreis unterbricht, um Folgeschäden zu vermeiden

Where the eye mixes sichern and Sicherung

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

7 ch
sichern
9 ch
Sicherung

Visual trap between sichern and Sicherung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sichern is [ˈzɪçɐn] while Sicherung is [ˈzɪçəʁʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 8504, 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]. Sicherung is at rank #5,648, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɪçəʁʊŋ].

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 8504, this pair ranks #1,984,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sichern vs Sicherung

Shared letters: cehinrs. Private to "sichern": -. Private to "Sicherung": gu.

"sichern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Sicherung" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sichern ← ischern · scihern · sicchern · sicehrn · sichenr · sichernn · sicherrn · sichhern
  • Sicherung ← ischerung · sciherung · siccherung · sicehrung · sichernug · sicherrung · sicherugn · sicherungg

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sichern" for "Sicherung" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sichern" is a verb and "Sicherung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "sichern" vs "Sicherung" - which ranks higher?
"sichern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,856 in our German list, against #5,648 for "Sicherung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sichern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sicherung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,984,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sichern" and "Sicherung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sacher vs sichern". 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 #1,984,018 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