Which to use
“verdanken” is a verb and “verdankte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,117
- “verdanken” frequency rank
- #49,338
- “verdankte” frequency rank
- 55455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verdanken | verdankte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem wegen etwas zu Dank verpflichtet sein | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verdankt |
Where the eye mixes verdanken and verdankte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verdanken (CVCCVCCVC) and verdankte (CVCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses verdanken with verdankte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdanken is [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩] while verdankte is [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verdanken is recorded at frequency rank #6,117, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩]. verdankte is at rank #49,338, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋktə].
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 55455, this pair ranks #978,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verdanken vs verdankte
Shared letters: adeknrv. Private to "verdanken": -. Private to "verdankte": t.
"verdanken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verdankte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verdanken" and "verdankte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "verdanken" vs "verdankte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verdanken" and "verdankte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verdanken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verdankte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #978,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verdanken" and "verdankte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdankte vs versenkte". 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 #978,890 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.