bedankenvsbedrängenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,276
“bedanken” frequency rank
#43,747
“bedrängen” frequency rank
50023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bedanken bedrängen
Definition seinen Dank für etwas, das man erhalten hat, ausdrücken drängend bedrücken

Where the eye mixes bedanken and bedrängen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bedanken runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against bedrängen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
bedanken
9 ch
bedrängen

Why the eye confuses bedanken with bedrängen

A purely visual mix-up. bedanken ([bəˈdaŋkn̩]) and bedrängen ([bəˈdʁɛŋən]) 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 50023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bedanken is recorded at frequency rank #6,276, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈdaŋkn̩]. bedrängen is at rank #43,747, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈdʁɛŋən].

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 50023, this pair ranks #1,189,497 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bedanken vs bedrängen

Shared letters: bden. Private to "bedanken": ak. Private to "bedrängen": grä.

"bedanken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "bedrängen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bedankenbbedanken · bdeanken · beadnken · bedaknen · bedanekn · bedankenn · bedankken · bedankne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bedanken" for "bedrängen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈdaŋkn̩] versus [bəˈdʁɛŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bedanken" or "bedrängen"?
"bedanken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,276 in our German list, against #43,747 for "bedrängen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bedanken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bedrängen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,189,497 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bedanken" and "bedrängen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bedrängen vs befangen". 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 #1,189,497 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