DänevsdankenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,272
“Däne” frequency rank
#4,780
“danken” frequency rank
41052
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Däne danken
Definition Staatsbürger von Dänemark seinen Dank aussprechen oder seine Dankbarkeit durch Taten äußern

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Däne and danken apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Däne
6 ch
danken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Däne is [ˈdɛːnə] while danken is [ˈdaŋkn̩]. 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 41052, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Däne is recorded at frequency rank #36,272, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛːnə]. danken is at rank #4,780, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdaŋkn̩].

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 41052, this pair ranks #1,490,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Däne vs danken

Shared letters: den. Private to "Däne": ä. Private to "danken": ak.

"Däne" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "danken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dankenadnken · daknen · danekn · dankenn · dankken · dankne · dannken · ddanken

Frequency comparison

Däne#36,272
danken#4,780

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Däne" and "danken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Däne" is a noun and "danken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Däne" or "danken"?
"danken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,780 in our German list, against #36,272 for "Däne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Däne vs danken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Däne”; for a verb, it's “danken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Däne” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list