Which to use
“Gedanken” is a noun and “gedenken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #790
- “Gedanken” frequency rank
- #5,708
- “gedenken” frequency rank
- 6498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gedanken | gedenken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vorgang des Denkens | die Erinnerung an jemand oder etwas pflegen, wachhalten |
Where the eye mixes Gedanken and gedenken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Gedanken and gedenken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: Gedanken vs gedenken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gedanken is [ɡəˈdaŋkn̩] while gedenken is [ɡəˈdɛŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “Gedanken” becomes e in “gedenken”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gedanken is recorded at frequency rank #790, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈdaŋkn̩]. gedenken is at rank #5,708, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈdɛŋkn̩].
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 6498, this pair ranks #1,991,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Gedanken vs gedenken
Shared letters: degkn. Private to "Gedanken": a. Private to "gedenken": -.
"Gedanken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gedenken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Gedanken" and "gedenken" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Gedanken" vs "gedenken" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gedanken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gedenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gedanken" and "gedenken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gedankens vs gedenken". 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 #1,991,439 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.