sindvssinktTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34
“sind” frequency rank
#5,649
“sinkt” frequency rank
5683
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sind sinkt
Definition [1] 1. Person Plural Präsens Indikativ des Verbs sein 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sinken

Where the eye mixes sind and sinkt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sind runs 4 letters (CVCC) against sinkt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
sind
5 ch
sinkt

Why the eye confuses sind with sinkt

A purely visual mix-up. sind ([zɪnt]) and sinkt ([zɪŋkt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sind is recorded at frequency rank #34, classified as averb, pronounced [zɪnt]. sinkt is at rank #5,649, tagged as averb, pronounced [zɪŋkt].

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 5683, this pair ranks #1,994,050 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sind vs sinkt

Shared letters: ins. Private to "sind": d. Private to "sinkt": kt.

"sind" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "sinkt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sind ← isnd · sidn · sindd · sinnd · snid · ssind
  • sinkt ← isnkt · siknt · sinkkt · sinktt · sinnkt · sintk · snikt · ssinkt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sind" and "sinkt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([zɪnt] versus [zɪŋkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sind" vs "sinkt" - which ranks higher?
"sind" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34 in our German list, against #5,649 for "sinkt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sind" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sinkt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,050 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sind" and "sinkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sinkt vs Sönke". 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 #1,994,050 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