demivsdenkConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#36,873
“demi” frequency rank
#2,707
“denk” frequency rank
39580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature demi denk
Definition halb 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs denken

Where the eye mixes demi and denk

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. demi (CVCV) and denk (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
demi
4 ch
denk

Look-alike desk: demi vs denk

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: demi is [də.mi] while denk is [dɛŋk]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

demi is recorded at frequency rank #36,873, classified as anadj, pronounced [də.mi]. 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 39580, this pair ranks #1,532,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of demi vs denk

Shared letters: de. Private to "demi": im. Private to "denk": kn.

"demi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "denk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • demi ← ddemi · demmi · dmei · edmi
  • denk ← ddenk · dekn · denkk · dennk · dnek · ednk

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "demi" and "denk" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "demi" is an adjective and "denk" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "demi" or "denk"?
"denk" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,707 in our German list, against #36,873 for "demi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "demi" 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 #1,532,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "demi" and "denk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demi vs dess". 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 #1,532,815 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