nachdenkevsnachdenkenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,443
“nachdenke” frequency rank
#3,059
“nachdenken” frequency rank
25502
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nachdenke nachdenken
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs nachdenken sich eingehend in Gedanken mit etwas oder jemandem beschäftigen

Where the eye mixes nachdenke and nachdenken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. nachdenke runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCCV) against nachdenken's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
nachdenke
10 ch
nachdenken

Visual trap between nachdenke and nachdenken

A purely visual mix-up. nachdenke ([ˈnaːxˌdɛŋkə]) and nachdenken ([ˈnaːxˌdɛŋkn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “nachdenke” sits inside “nachdenken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nachdenke is recorded at frequency rank #22,443, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌdɛŋkə]. nachdenken is at rank #3,059, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnaːxˌdɛŋkn̩].

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 25502, this pair ranks #1,832,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nachdenke vs nachdenken

Shared letters: acdehkn. Private to "nachdenke": -. Private to "nachdenken": -.

"nachdenke" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "nachdenken" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nachdenke ← anchdenke · nacchdenke · nacdhenke · nachddenke · nachdekne · nachdenek · nachdenkke · nachdennke
  • nachdenken ← anchdenken · nacchdenken · nacdhenken · nachddenken · nachdeknen · nachdenekn · nachdenkenn · nachdenkken

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nachdenke" and "nachdenken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaːxˌdɛŋkə] versus [ˈnaːxˌdɛŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "nachdenke" vs "nachdenken" - which ranks higher?
"nachdenken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,059 in our German list, against #22,443 for "nachdenke". 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 "nachdenke" and "nachdenken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nachdenke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nachdenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,832,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nachdenke" and "nachdenken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nachdenke vs nachdenkt". 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 #1,832,312 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