Which to use
“singen” and “stinken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,319
- “singen” frequency rank
- #22,520
- “stinken” frequency rank
- 24839
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | singen | stinken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Lied (oder eine Melodie) mit der eigenen Stimme hervorbringen | (sehr) übel schlecht riechen, üblen Geruch verbreiten |
Where the eye mixes singen and stinken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. singen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against stinken's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses singen with stinken
A purely visual mix-up. singen ([ˈzɪŋən]) and stinken ([ˈʃtɪŋkn̩]) 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 24839, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
singen is recorded at frequency rank #2,319, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪŋən]. stinken is at rank #22,520, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɪŋkn̩].
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 24839, this pair ranks #1,841,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of singen vs stinken
Shared letters: eins. Private to "singen": g. Private to "stinken": kt.
"singen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "stinken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "singen" and "stinken" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "singen" or "stinken" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "singen" and "stinken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "singen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stinken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,841,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "singen" and "stinken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs stinken". 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 #1,841,930 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.