StrichenvsStrickenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,866
“Strichen” frequency rank
#20,071
“Stricken” frequency rank
60937
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Strichen Stricken
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Strich Dativ Plural des Substantivs Strick

Where the eye mixes Strichen and Stricken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Strichen
8 ch
Stricken

Why the eye confuses Strichen with Stricken

A purely visual mix-up. Strichen ([ˈʃtʁɪçn̩]) and Stricken ([ˈʃtʁɪkn̩]) 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 a single letter - h in “Strichen” becomes k in “Stricken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Strichen is recorded at frequency rank #40,866, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪçn̩]. Stricken is at rank #20,071, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪkn̩].

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 60937, this pair ranks #768,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Strichen vs Stricken

Shared letters: ceinrst. Private to "Strichen": h. Private to "Stricken": k.

"Strichen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "Stricken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Strichensrtichen · sstrichen · stirchen · strcihen · stricchen · stricehn · strichenn · strichhen
  • Strickensrticken · sstricken · stircken · strciken · striccken · stricekn · strickenn · strickken

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Strichen" for "Stricken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtʁɪçn̩] versus [ˈʃtʁɪkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Strichen" vs "Stricken" - which ranks higher?
"Stricken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,071 in our German list, against #40,866 for "Strichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Strichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stricken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #768,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Strichen" and "Stricken" 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 #768,342 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