DenkenvsdenkstWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#501
“Denken” frequency rank
#2,948
“denkst” frequency rank
3449
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Denken denkst
Definition Einstellung zu etwas 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs denken

Where the eye mixes Denken and denkst

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

6 ch
Denken
6 ch
denkst

Look-alike desk: Denken vs denkst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Denken is [ˈdɛŋkn̩] while denkst is [dɛŋkst]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Denken is recorded at frequency rank #501, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛŋkn̩]. denkst is at rank #2,948, tagged as averb, pronounced [dɛŋkst].

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 3449, this pair ranks #2,000,196 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Denken vs denkst

Shared letters: dekn. Private to "Denken": -. Private to "denkst": st.

"Denken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "denkst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Denkenddenken · deknen · denekn · denkenn · denkken · denkne · dennken · dneken
  • denkstddenkst · deknst · denkkst · denksst · denkstt · denkts · dennkst · denskt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Denken" and "denkst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Denken" is a noun and "denkst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Denken" or "denkst" show up more?
"Denken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #501 in our German list, against #2,948 for "denkst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Denken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "denkst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,196 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Denken" and "denkst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deckten vs Denken". 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 #2,000,196 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