Which to use
“Gedanke” and “Gedanken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,189
- “Gedanke” frequency rank
- #790
- “Gedanken” frequency rank
- 3979
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gedanke | Gedanken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vorgang des Denkens | Vorgang des Denkens |
Where the eye mixes Gedanke and Gedanken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Gedanke and Gedanken
A purely visual mix-up. Gedanke ([ɡəˈdaŋkə]) and Gedanken ([ɡəˈdaŋkn̩]) 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) - “Gedanke” sits inside “Gedanken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3979, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gedanke is recorded at frequency rank #3,189, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈdaŋkə]. Gedanken is at rank #790, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈdaŋkn̩].
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 3979, this pair ranks #1,998,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Gedanke vs Gedanken
Shared letters: adegkn. Private to "Gedanke": -. Private to "Gedanken": -.
"Gedanke" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "Gedanken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Gedanke" and "Gedanken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Gedanke" vs "Gedanken" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Gedanke" and "Gedanken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gedanke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Gedanken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,998,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gedanke" and "Gedanken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gedanke vs Gedankens". 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 #1,998,877 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.