Which to use
“gedenke” is a verb and “Gelenken” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,511
- “gedenke” frequency rank
- #38,766
- “Gelenken” frequency rank
- 81277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gedenke | Gelenken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gedenken | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gelenk |
Where the eye mixes gedenke and Gelenken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gedenke runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against Gelenken's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: gedenke vs Gelenken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gedenke is [ɡəˈdɛŋkə] while Gelenken is [ɡəˈlɛŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81277, 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]. Gelenken is at rank #38,766, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈlɛŋkn̩].
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 81277, this pair ranks #178,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of gedenke vs Gelenken
Shared letters: egkn. Private to "gedenke": d. Private to "Gelenken": l.
"gedenke" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "Gelenken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gedenke" and "Gelenken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "gedenke" or "Gelenken" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "Gelenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #178,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gedenke" and "Gelenken" 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 #178,933 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.