TankevstrankenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Tanke is a noun, tranken is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Tanke” is a noun and “tranken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,305
“Tanke” frequency rank
#28,425
“tranken” frequency rank
60730
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tanke tranken
Definition Tankstelle 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs trinken

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Tanke and tranken apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Tanke
7 ch
tranken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tanke is [ˈtaŋkə] while tranken is [ˈtʁaŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tanke is recorded at frequency rank #32,305, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaŋkə]. tranken is at rank #28,425, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁaŋkn̩].

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 60730, this pair ranks #776,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tanke vs tranken

Shared letters: aeknt. Private to "Tanke": -. Private to "tranken": r.

"Tanke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tranken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tankeatnke · takne · tanek · tankke · tannke · tnake · ttanke
  • trankenrtanken · tarnken · traknen · tranekn · trankenn · trankken · trankne · trannken

Frequency comparison

Tanke#32,305
tranken#28,425

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Tanke" and "tranken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tanke" is a noun and "tranken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Tanke" or "tranken"?
"tranken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,425 in our German list, against #32,305 for "Tanke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Tanke vs tranken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Tanke”; for a verb, it's “tranken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Tanke” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list