danktevsdeckteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“dankte” and “deckte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,536
“dankte” frequency rank
#29,997
“deckte” frequency rank
49533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dankte deckte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs danken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs decken

Where the eye mixes dankte and deckte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
dankte
6 ch
deckte

Visual trap between dankte and deckte

A purely visual mix-up. dankte ([ˈdaŋktə]) and deckte ([ˈdɛktə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dankte is recorded at frequency rank #19,536, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdaŋktə]. deckte is at rank #29,997, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɛktə].

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 49533, this pair ranks #1,207,936 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dankte vs deckte

Shared letters: dekt. Private to "dankte": an. Private to "deckte": c.

"dankte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "deckte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dankteadnkte · daknte · danket · dankkte · danktte · dannkte · dantke · ddankte
  • decktedcekte · ddeckte · decckte · decket · deckkte · decktte · dectke · dekcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dankte" and "deckte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdaŋktə] versus [ˈdɛktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "dankte" or "deckte" show up more?
"dankte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,536 in our German list, against #29,997 for "deckte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "dankte" and "deckte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dankte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deckte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,207,936 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dankte" and "deckte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deckte vs devote". 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 #1,207,936 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list