Which to use
“danke” is a particle and “denke” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #212
- “danke” frequency rank
- #475
- “denke” frequency rank
- 687
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | danke | denke |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Wort, das man benutzt, um seinen Dank auszudrücken | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs denken |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set danke and denke apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
danke and denke form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - a in “danke” becomes e in “denke” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
danke is recorded at frequency rank #212, classified as aparticle, pronounced [ˈdaŋkə]. 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 687, this pair ranks #2,005,495 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "danke" and "denke" be used interchangeably?
Remembering danke vs denke
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a particle, it's “danke”; for a verb, it's “denke”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “danke” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable