Which to use
“taken” is an adjective and “tranken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,860
- “taken” frequency rank
- #28,425
- “tranken” frequency rank
- 71285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | taken | tranken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs tak | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs trinken |
Where the eye mixes taken and tranken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. taken runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against tranken's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses taken with tranken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: taken is [ˈtakn̩] while tranken is [ˈtʁaŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
taken is recorded at frequency rank #42,860, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtakn̩]. tranken is at rank #28,425, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁaŋkn̩].
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 71285, this pair ranks #421,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of taken vs tranken
Shared letters: aeknt. Private to "taken": -. Private to "tranken": r.
"taken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "tranken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "taken" and "tranken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "taken" vs "tranken" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "taken" and "tranken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "taken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tranken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #421,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "taken" and "tranken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taken vs taking". 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 #421,267 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.