dehnenvsDenkenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#26,818
“dehnen” frequency rank
#501
“Denken” frequency rank
27319
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dehnen Denken
Definition etwas ausweiten, strecken, vergrößern Einstellung zu etwas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dehnen and Denken apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
dehnen
6 ch
Denken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dehnen is [ˈdeːnən] while Denken is [ˈdɛŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dehnen is recorded at frequency rank #26,818, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdeːnən]. Denken is at rank #501, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛŋkn̩].

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 27319, this pair ranks #1,803,696 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dehnen vs Denken

Shared letters: den. Private to "dehnen": h. Private to "Denken": k.

"dehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Denken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dehnenddehnen · dehenn · dehhnen · dehnenn · dehnne · dehnnen · denhen · dhenen
  • Denkenddenken · deknen · denekn · denkenn · denkken · denkne · dennken · dneken

Frequency comparison

dehnen#26,818
Denken#501

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dehnen" and "Denken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dehnen" is a verb and "Denken" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dehnen" or "Denken"?
"Denken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #501 in our German list, against #26,818 for "dehnen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering dehnen vs Denken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “dehnen”; for a noun, it's “Denken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dehnen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list