StreckenvsStrichenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,851
“Strecken” frequency rank
#40,866
“Strichen” frequency rank
44717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Strecken Strichen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Strecke Dativ Plural des Substantivs Strich

Where the eye mixes Strecken and Strichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Strecken
8 ch
Strichen

Visual trap between Strecken and Strichen

A purely visual mix-up. Strecken ([ˈʃtʁɛkn̩]) and Strichen ([ˈʃtʁɪçn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Strecken is recorded at frequency rank #3,851, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɛkn̩]. Strichen is at rank #40,866, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪçn̩].

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 44717, this pair ranks #1,377,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Strecken vs Strichen

Shared letters: cenrst. Private to "Strecken": k. Private to "Strichen": hi.

"Strecken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "Strichen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Streckensrtecken · sstrecken · stercken · strceken · streccken · strecekn · streckenn · streckken
  • Strichensrtichen · sstrichen · stirchen · strcihen · stricchen · stricehn · strichenn · strichhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Strecken" for "Strichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtʁɛkn̩] versus [ˈʃtʁɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Strecken" vs "Strichen" - which ranks higher?
"Strecken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,851 in our German list, against #40,866 for "Strichen". 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 "Strecken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Strichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,377,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Strecken" and "Strichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Strichen vs strippen". 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 #1,377,013 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