stockenvsstöhnenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,326
“stocken” frequency rank
#20,423
“stöhnen” frequency rank
43749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stocken stöhnen
Definition einen Fortgang, eine Bewegung anhalten aufgrund von Anstrengung, Erregung oder Schmerz unartikulierte Laute hervorstoßen

Where the eye mixes stocken and stöhnen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stocken and stöhnen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
stocken
7 ch
stöhnen

Visual trap between stocken and stöhnen

A purely visual mix-up. stocken ([ˈʃtɔkn̩]) and stöhnen ([ˈʃtøːnən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stocken is recorded at frequency rank #23,326, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɔkn̩]. stöhnen is at rank #20,423, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːnən].

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 43749, this pair ranks #1,408,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stocken vs stöhnen

Shared letters: enst. Private to "stocken": cko. Private to "stöhnen": hö.

"stocken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "stöhnen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stocken ← sotcken · sstocken · stcoken · stoccken · stocekn · stockenn · stockken · stockne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stocken" and "stöhnen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɔkn̩] versus [ˈʃtøːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "stocken" or "stöhnen" show up more?
"stöhnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,423 in our German list, against #23,326 for "stocken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stocken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stöhnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,408,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stocken" and "stöhnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stöhnen vs Strähnen". 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 #1,408,174 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