zockevszockenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,881
“zocke” frequency rank
#7,855
“zocken” frequency rank
55736
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zocke zocken
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs zocken Glücksspiele machen; um Geld spielen

Where the eye mixes zocke and zocken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. zocke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against zocken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
zocke
6 ch
zocken

Why the eye confuses zocke with zocken

A purely visual mix-up. zocke ([ˈt͡sɔkə]) and zocken ([ˈt͡sɔkn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “zocke” sits inside “zocken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zocke is recorded at frequency rank #47,881, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡sɔkə]. zocken is at rank #7,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡sɔkn̩].

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 55736, this pair ranks #967,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zocke vs zocken

Shared letters: cekoz. Private to "zocke": -. Private to "zocken": n.

"zocke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "zocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • zocke ← ozcke · zcoke · zoccke · zocek · zockke · zokce · zzocke
  • zocken ← ozcken · zcoken · zoccken · zocekn · zockenn · zockken · zockne · zokcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "zocke" and "zocken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt͡sɔkə] versus [ˈt͡sɔkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "zocke" or "zocken" show up more?
"zocken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,855 in our German list, against #47,881 for "zocke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "zocke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "zocken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #967,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zocke" and "zocken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zocke vs Zofe". 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 #967,778 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