tränkevstrankenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#46,338
“tränke” frequency rank
#28,425
“tranken” frequency rank
74763
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tränke tranken
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tränken 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs trinken

Where the eye mixes tränke and tranken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
tränke
7 ch
tranken

Visual trap between tränke and tranken

A purely visual mix-up. tränke ([ˈtʁɛŋkə]) and tranken ([ˈtʁaŋkn̩]) 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 74763, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tränke is recorded at frequency rank #46,338, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɛŋkə]. 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 74763, this pair ranks #324,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tränke vs tranken

Shared letters: eknrt. Private to "tränke": ä. Private to "tranken": a.

"tränke" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "tranken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trankenrtanken · tarnken · traknen · tranekn · trankenn · trankken · trankne · trannken

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tränke" and "tranken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtʁɛŋkə] versus [ˈtʁaŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "tränke" or "tranken" show up more?
"tranken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,425 in our German list, against #46,338 for "tränke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tränke" 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 #324,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tränke" and "tranken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Trainee vs tränke". 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 #324,998 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