strickevsstruckWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,867
“stricke” frequency rank
#47,031
“struck” frequency rank
87898
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stricke struck
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stricken Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs strike

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stricke and struck apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
stricke
6 ch
struck

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. stricke ([ˈʃtʁɪkə]) and struck ([ˈstɹʌk]) 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 87898, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stricke is recorded at frequency rank #40,867, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪkə]. struck is at rank #47,031, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈstɹʌk].

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 87898, this pair ranks #74,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stricke vs struck

Shared letters: ckrst. Private to "stricke": ei. Private to "struck": u.

"stricke" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "struck" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • strickesrticke · sstricke · stircke · strcike · striccke · stricek · strickke · strikce
  • strucksrtuck · sstruck · strcuk · strruck · strucck · struckk · strukc · sttruck

Frequency comparison

stricke#40,867
struck#47,031

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stricke" and "struck" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtʁɪkə] versus [ˈstɹʌk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stricke" or "struck"?
"stricke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,867 in our German list, against #47,031 for "struck". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering stricke vs struck

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stricke” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list