Which to use
“danke” is a particle and “donkey” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #212
- “danke” frequency rank
- #46,575
- “donkey” frequency rank
- 46787
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | danke | donkey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Wort, das man benutzt, um seinen Dank auszudrücken | Esel |
Where the eye mixes danke and donkey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses danke with donkey
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: danke is [ˈdaŋkə] while donkey is [ˈdɒŋkɪ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
danke is recorded at frequency rank #212, classified as aparticle, pronounced [ˈdaŋkə]. donkey is at rank #46,575, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɒŋkɪ].
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 46787, this pair ranks #1,306,994 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of danke vs donkey
Shared letters: dekn. Private to "danke": a. Private to "donkey": oy.
"danke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "donkey" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "danke" and "donkey" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "danke" vs "donkey" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "danke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "donkey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,306,994 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "danke" and "donkey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dinkel vs donkey". 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 #1,306,994 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.