deckenvsDecksWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: decken is a verb, Decks is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decken” is a verb and “Decks” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,187
“decken” frequency rank
#30,507
“Decks” frequency rank
34694
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decken Decks
Definition (Dach) mit der wasserabweisenden Außenschicht versehen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Deck

Where the eye mixes decken and Decks

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

6 ch
decken
5 ch
Decks

Visual trap between decken and Decks

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decken is [ˈdɛkn̩] while Decks is [dɛks]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decken is recorded at frequency rank #4,187, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdɛkn̩]. Decks is at rank #30,507, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dɛks].

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 34694, this pair ranks #1,657,501 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of decken vs Decks

Shared letters: cdek. Private to "decken": n. Private to "Decks": s.

"decken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Decks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deckendceken · ddecken · deccken · decekn · deckenn · deckken · deckne · dekcen
  • Decksdceks · ddecks · deccks · deckks · deckss · decsk · dekcs · edcks

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decken" and "Decks" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decken" is a verb and "Decks" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "decken" or "Decks" show up more?
"decken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,187 in our German list, against #30,507 for "Decks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Decks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,657,501 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decken" and "Decks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Decks vs Docks". 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 #1,657,501 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