Which to use
“danke” is a particle and “dare” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #212
- “danke” frequency rank
- #44,517
- “dare” frequency rank
- 44729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | danke | dare |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Wort, das man benutzt, um seinen Dank auszudrücken | es wagen, zu (+Infinitiv); den Mut haben, zu (+Infinitiv) |
Where the eye mixes danke and dare
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between danke and dare
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: danke is [ˈdaŋkə] while dare is [deə(ɹ)]. 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 (particle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
danke is recorded at frequency rank #212, classified as aparticle, pronounced [ˈdaŋkə]. dare is at rank #44,517, tagged as averb, pronounced [deə(ɹ)].
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 44729, this pair ranks #1,376,643 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of danke vs dare
Shared letters: ade. Private to "danke": kn. Private to "dare": r.
"danke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "danke" and "dare" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "danke" or "dare"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "danke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dare" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,376,643 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "danke" and "dare" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dare vs dörr". 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 #1,376,643 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.