decvsdenkConfusable pair

Quick tell: dec is a abbrev, denk is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dec” is an abbrev and “denk” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,469
“dec” frequency rank
#2,707
“denk” frequency rank
43176
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dec denk
Definition Abkürzung für den Monat december; Dezember 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs denken

Letter map: dec vs denk

Shared letters muted; letters that set dec and denk apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. dec runs 3 letters (CVC) against denk's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
dec
4 ch
denk

Grammar separator: dec vs denk

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dec is anabbrev and denkaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dec is recorded at frequency rank #40,469, classified as anabbrev. denk is at rank #2,707, tagged as averb, pronounced [dɛŋk].

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 43176, this pair ranks #1,426,297 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dec vs denk

Shared letters: de. Private to "dec": c. Private to "denk": kn.

"dec" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "denk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • denk ← ddenk · dekn · denkk · dennk · dnek · ednk

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dec" for "denk" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dec" is an abbrev and "denk" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dec" or "denk"?
"denk" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,707 in our German list, against #40,469 for "dec". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pair "dec" vs "denk" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dec" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "denk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,426,297 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dec" and "denk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dec vs duch". 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 #1,426,297 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