dankvsdranWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dank is a preposition, dran is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dank” is a preposition and “dran” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#406
“dank” frequency rank
#964
“dran” frequency rank
1370
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dank dran
Definition durch etwas oder jemanden; aufgrund etwas oder jemandes eine direkte räumliche Berührung ausdrückend

Where the eye mixes dank and dran

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
dank
4 ch
dran

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dank is [daŋk] while dran is [dʁan]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dank is recorded at frequency rank #406, classified as aprep, pronounced [daŋk]. dran is at rank #964, tagged as anadv, pronounced [dʁan].

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 1370, this pair ranks #2,004,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dank vs dran

Shared letters: adn. Private to "dank": k. Private to "dran": r.

"dank" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "dran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dankadnk · dakn · dankk · dannk · ddank · dnak
  • drandarn · ddran · drann · drna · drran · rdan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dank" and "dran" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dank" is a preposition and "dran" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dank" or "dran"?
"dank" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #406 in our German list, against #964 for "dran". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list