DänevsdenkeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,272
“Däne” frequency rank
#475
“denke” frequency rank
36747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Däne denke
Definition Staatsbürger von Dänemark 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs denken

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
Däne
5 ch
denke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Däne is [ˈdɛːnə] while denke is [ˈdɛŋkə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36747, 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]. denke is at rank #475, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɛŋkə].

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 36747, this pair ranks #1,607,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Däne vs denke

Shared letters: den. Private to "Däne": ä. Private to "denke": k.

"Däne" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "denke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • denkeddenke · dekne · denek · denkke · dennke · dneke · ednke

Frequency comparison

Däne#36,272
denke#475

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Däne" and "denke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Däne" is a noun and "denke" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Däne" or "denke"?
"denke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #475 in our German list, against #36,272 for "Däne". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Däne vs denke

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 “denke”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list