verdankevsverdankenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,996
“verdanke” frequency rank
#6,117
“verdanken” frequency rank
34113
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verdanke verdanken
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verdanken jemandem wegen etwas zu Dank verpflichtet sein

Where the eye mixes verdanke and verdanken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verdanke runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against verdanken's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verdanke
9 ch
verdanken

Look-alike desk: verdanke vs verdanken

A purely visual mix-up. verdanke ([fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkə]) and verdanken ([fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩]) 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) - “verdanke” sits inside “verdanken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verdanke is recorded at frequency rank #27,996, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkə]. verdanken is at rank #6,117, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩].

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 34113, this pair ranks #1,670,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verdanke vs verdanken

Shared letters: adeknrv. Private to "verdanke": -. Private to "verdanken": -.

"verdanke" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "verdanken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verdanke ← evrdanke · vedranke · veradnke · verdakne · verdanek · verdankke · verdannke · verddanke
  • verdanken ← evrdanken · vedranken · veradnken · verdaknen · verdanekn · verdankenn · verdankken · verdankne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verdanke" and "verdanken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verdanke" or "verdanken"?
"verdanken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,117 in our German list, against #27,996 for "verdanke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verdanke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verdanken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,670,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verdanke" and "verdanken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdanke vs verdankte". 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 #1,670,702 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