BänkevsbedankeConfusable pair

Quick tell: Bänke is a noun, bedanke is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Bänke” is a noun and “bedanke” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,561
“Bänke” frequency rank
#21,181
“bedanke” frequency rank
42742
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bänke bedanke
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Bank 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bedanken

Where the eye mixes Bänke and bedanke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Bänke
7 ch
bedanke

Look-alike desk: Bänke vs bedanke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Bänke is [ˈbɛŋkə] while bedanke is [bəˈdaŋkə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bänke is recorded at frequency rank #21,561, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɛŋkə]. bedanke is at rank #21,181, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈdaŋkə].

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 42742, this pair ranks #1,439,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Bänke vs bedanke

Shared letters: bekn. Private to "Bänke": ä. Private to "bedanke": ad.

"Bänke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "bedanke" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bedankebbedanke · bdeanke · beadnke · bedakne · bedanek · bedankke · bedannke · beddanke

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bänke" and "bedanke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Bänke" is a noun and "bedanke" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Bänke" or "bedanke" show up more?
"bedanke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,181 in our German list, against #21,561 for "Bänke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bänke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bedanke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,439,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bänke" and "bedanke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bänke vs bonne". 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 #1,439,929 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