StreckenvsstrickeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#3,851
“Strecken” frequency rank
#40,867
“stricke” frequency rank
44718
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Strecken stricke
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Strecke 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stricken

Where the eye mixes Strecken and stricke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Strecken runs 8 letters (CCCVCCVC) against stricke's 7 (CCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Strecken
7 ch
stricke

Look-alike desk: Strecken vs stricke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Strecken is [ˈʃtʁɛkn̩] while stricke is [ˈʃtʁɪkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44718, 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]. stricke is at rank #40,867, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪkə].

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 44718, this pair ranks #1,376,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Strecken vs stricke

Shared letters: cekrst. Private to "Strecken": n. Private to "stricke": i.

"Strecken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "stricke" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Strecken ← srtecken · sstrecken · stercken · strceken · streccken · strecekn · streckenn · streckken
  • stricke ← srticke · sstricke · stircke · strcike · striccke · stricek · strickke · strikce

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Strecken" and "stricke" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Strecken" is a noun and "stricke" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Strecken" or "stricke" show up more?
"Strecken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,851 in our German list, against #40,867 for "stricke". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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 "stricke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,376,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Strecken" and "stricke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stricke vs struck". 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 #1,376,972 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