Which to use
“gedenke” is a verb and “Gelenke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,511
- “gedenke” frequency rank
- #19,922
- “Gelenke” frequency rank
- 62433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gedenke | Gelenke |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gedenken | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Gelenk |
Where the eye mixes gedenke and Gelenke
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gedenke and Gelenke follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: gedenke vs Gelenke
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gedenke is [ɡəˈdɛŋkə] while Gelenke is [ɡəˈlɛŋkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “gedenke” becomes l in “Gelenke”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gedenke is recorded at frequency rank #42,511, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈdɛŋkə]. Gelenke is at rank #19,922, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈlɛŋkə].
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 62433, this pair ranks #713,067 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gedenke vs Gelenke
Shared letters: egkn. Private to "gedenke": d. Private to "Gelenke": l.
"gedenke" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "Gelenke" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gedenke" and "Gelenke" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "gedenke" vs "Gelenke" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gedenke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Gelenke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #713,067 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gedenke" and "Gelenke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gedenke vs Gewerke". 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 #713,067 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.