gedenktvsgesenktTell them apart

Which to use

“gedenkt” and “gesenkt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,141
“gedenkt” frequency rank
#10,665
“gesenkt” frequency rank
33806
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gedenkt gesenkt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gedenken Partizip Perfekt des Verbs senken

Where the eye mixes gedenkt and gesenkt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gedenkt and gesenkt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
gedenkt
7 ch
gesenkt

Visual trap between gedenkt and gesenkt

A purely visual mix-up. gedenkt ([ɡəˈdɛŋkt]) and gesenkt ([ɡəˈzɛŋkt]) 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 a single letter - d in “gedenkt” becomes s in “gesenkt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gedenkt is recorded at frequency rank #23,141, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈdɛŋkt]. gesenkt is at rank #10,665, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzɛŋkt].

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 33806, this pair ranks #1,677,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gedenkt vs gesenkt

Shared letters: egknt. Private to "gedenkt": d. Private to "gesenkt": s.

"gedenkt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gesenkt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gedenkt ← egdenkt · gdeenkt · geddenkt · gedeknt · gedenkkt · gedenktt · gedennkt · gedentk
  • gesenkt ← egsenkt · geesnkt · geseknt · gesenkkt · gesenktt · gesennkt · gesentk · gesnekt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gedenkt" for "gesenkt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈdɛŋkt] versus [ɡəˈzɛŋkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gedenkt" or "gesenkt"?
"gesenkt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,665 in our German list, against #23,141 for "gedenkt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "gedenkt" and "gesenkt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gedenkt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gesenkt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,677,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gedenkt" and "gesenkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gedenkt vs geleakt". 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 #1,677,709 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list