denkbarvsdenkbareTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,469
“denkbar” frequency rank
#43,099
“denkbare” frequency rank
48568
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature denkbar denkbare
Definition vorstellbar, in Gedanken möglich Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs denkbar

Where the eye mixes denkbar and denkbare

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. denkbar runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against denkbare's 8 (CVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
denkbar
8 ch
denkbare

Visual trap between denkbar and denkbare

A purely visual mix-up. denkbar ([ˈdɛŋkbaːɐ̯]) and denkbare ([ˈdɛŋkbaːʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “denkbar” sits inside “denkbare”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48568, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

denkbar is recorded at frequency rank #5,469, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɛŋkbaːɐ̯]. denkbare is at rank #43,099, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɛŋkbaːʁə].

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 48568, this pair ranks #1,243,700 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of denkbar vs denkbare

Shared letters: abdeknr. Private to "denkbar": -. Private to "denkbare": -.

"denkbar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "denkbare" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • denkbar ← ddenkbar · deknbar · denbkar · denkabr · denkbarr · denkbbar · denkbra · denkkbar
  • denkbare ← ddenkbare · deknbare · denbkare · denkabre · denkbaer · denkbarre · denkbbare · denkbrae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "denkbar" for "denkbare" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdɛŋkbaːɐ̯] versus [ˈdɛŋkbaːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "denkbar" vs "denkbare" - which ranks higher?
"denkbar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,469 in our German list, against #43,099 for "denkbare". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "denkbar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "denkbare" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,243,700 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "denkbar" and "denkbare" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denkbare vs Denkmale". 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 #1,243,700 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