senktvssenkteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,968
“senkt” frequency rank
#30,765
“senkte” frequency rank
42733
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature senkt senkte
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs senken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs senken

Where the eye mixes senkt and senkte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. senkt runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against senkte's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
senkt
6 ch
senkte

Look-alike desk: senkt vs senkte

A purely visual mix-up. senkt ([zɛŋkt]) and senkte ([ˈzɛŋktə]) 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) - “senkt” sits inside “senkte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

senkt is recorded at frequency rank #11,968, classified as averb, pronounced [zɛŋkt]. senkte is at rank #30,765, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɛŋktə].

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 42733, this pair ranks #1,440,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of senkt vs senkte

Shared letters: eknst. Private to "senkt": -. Private to "senkte": -.

"senkt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "senkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • senkt ← esnkt · seknt · senkkt · senktt · sennkt · sentk · snekt · ssenkt
  • senkte ← esnkte · seknte · senket · senkkte · senktte · sennkte · sentke · snekte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "senkt" and "senkte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([zɛŋkt] versus [ˈzɛŋktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "senkt" or "senkte"?
"senkt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,968 in our German list, against #30,765 for "senkte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "senkt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "senkte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,440,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "senkt" and "senkte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "senkte vs Sönke". 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 #1,440,230 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