DenkervsdenkstWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#14,039
“Denker” frequency rank
#2,948
“denkst” frequency rank
16987
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Denker denkst
Definition Person, die durch ihr philosophisches Denken bekannt geworden ist; ein denkender Mensch 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs denken

Where the eye mixes Denker and denkst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Denker (CVCCVC) and denkst (CVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Denker
6 ch
denkst

Visual trap between Denker and denkst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Denker is [ˈdɛŋkɐ] 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 16987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Denker is recorded at frequency rank #14,039, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛŋkɐ]. 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 16987, this pair ranks #1,931,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Denker vs denkst

Shared letters: dekn. Private to "Denker": r. Private to "denkst": st.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Denker ← ddenker · dekner · denekr · denkerr · denkker · denkre · dennker · dneker
  • denkst ← ddenkst · deknst · denkkst · denksst · denkstt · denkts · dennkst · denskt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Denker" for "denkst" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Denker" is a noun and "denkst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Denker" vs "denkst" - which ranks higher?
"denkst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,948 in our German list, against #14,039 for "Denker". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Denker" 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 #1,931,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Denker" and "denkst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Denker vs donkey". 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 #1,931,333 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