Which to use
“denke” and “deute” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #475
- “denke” frequency rank
- #37,447
- “deute” frequency rank
- 37922
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | denke | deute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs denken | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs deuten |
Where the eye mixes denke and deute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. denke (CVCCV) and deute (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between denke and deute
A purely visual mix-up. denke ([ˈdɛŋkə]) and deute ([ˈdɔɪ̯tə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37922, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
denke is recorded at frequency rank #475, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdɛŋkə]. deute is at rank #37,447, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɔɪ̯tə].
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 37922, this pair ranks #1,577,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of denke vs deute
Shared letters: de. Private to "denke": kn. Private to "deute": tu.
"denke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "deute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "denke" and "deute" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "denke" or "deute" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "denke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,577,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "denke" and "deute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deute vs devote". 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 #1,577,578 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.