trockenervstrocknenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: trockener is a adjective, trocknen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“trockener” is an adjective and “trocknen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,738
“trockener” frequency rank
#11,134
“trocknen” frequency rank
30872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trockener trocknen
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs trocken etwas, das nass ist, trocken machen; Feuchtigkeit entziehen

Where the eye mixes trockener and trocknen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. trockener runs 9 letters (CCVCCVCVC) against trocknen's 8 (CCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
trockener
8 ch
trocknen

Look-alike desk: trockener vs trocknen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trockener is [ˈtʁɔkənɐ] while trocknen is [ˈtʁɔknən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trockener is recorded at frequency rank #19,738, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtʁɔkənɐ]. trocknen is at rank #11,134, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɔknən].

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 30872, this pair ranks #1,739,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of trockener vs trocknen

Shared letters: ceknort. Private to "trockener": -. Private to "trocknen": -.

"trockener" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC  ·  "trocknen" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trockener ← rtockener · torckener · trcokener · trocckener · trocekner · trockeenr · trockenerr · trockenner
  • trocknen ← rtocknen · torcknen · trcoknen · troccknen · trockknen · trocknenn · trocknne · trocknnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "trockener" and "trocknen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "trockener" is an adjective and "trocknen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "trockener" or "trocknen"?
"trocknen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,134 in our German list, against #19,738 for "trockener". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "trockener" and "trocknen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "trockener" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trocknen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,739,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trockener" and "trocknen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trockenem vs trockener". 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 #1,739,432 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