GedankevsgedanktWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,189
“Gedanke” frequency rank
#25,562
“gedankt” frequency rank
28751
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gedanke gedankt
Definition Vorgang des Denkens Partizip Perfekt des Verbs danken

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Gedanke and gedankt apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Gedanke
7 ch
gedankt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gedanke is [ɡəˈdaŋkə] while gedankt is [ɡəˈdaŋkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “Gedanke” becomes t in “gedankt”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28751, 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]. gedankt is at rank #25,562, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈdaŋkt].

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 28751, this pair ranks #1,779,291 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gedanke vs gedankt

Shared letters: adegkn. Private to "Gedanke": -. Private to "gedankt": t.

"Gedanke" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "gedankt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gedankeegdanke · gdeanke · geadnke · gedakne · gedanek · gedankke · gedannke · geddanke
  • gedanktegdankt · gdeankt · geadnkt · gedaknt · gedankkt · gedanktt · gedannkt · gedantk

Frequency comparison

Gedanke#3,189
gedankt#25,562

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gedanke" and "gedankt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gedanke" is a noun and "gedankt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gedanke" or "gedankt"?
"Gedanke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,189 in our German list, against #25,562 for "gedankt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Gedanke vs gedankt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Gedanke”; for a verb, it's “gedankt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Gedanke” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list