denn

[dɛn]

/[dɛn]/ conj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“denn” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #105) as a conjunction. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#105
frequency rank, German
2,764
“D” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - leitet einen Hauptsatz ein, der den Grund für das, was vorher festgestellt wurde, liefert

Corpus desk

Index DE-denn · denn · German

denn · rank #105 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #105
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,764
  • PHOTO-FINISH machen

Nearest frequency peer: machen (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “denn”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “denn” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

denn vs der
50% similar
denn vs des
50% similar
denn vs don
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for denn
PropertyValue
Headworddenn
LanguageGerman
Part of speechConjunction
IPA[dɛn]
Letters4
Frequency rank#105
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “denn” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).dennliegt hier:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „machen“ (#104), „meine“ (#106), „ganz“ (#103). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for denn is neighbouring look-alikes ("der", "des", …), not just typos; it is aconjunction pronounced [dɛn]. Frequency #105 among 2,764 “D” headwords. Gloss: "leitet einen Hauptsatz ein, der den Grund für das, was vorher festgestellt wurde, liefert".

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for denn, with forms such as "ddenn", "dnen", and "ednn". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "der", "des", "don", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is denn, spelled D-E-N-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    leitet einen Hauptsatz ein, der den Grund für das, was vorher festgestellt wurde, liefert

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how denn appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Max geht es schlecht, denn er hat einen ganzen Kuchen gegessen.

Synonyms

nämlichweilda

This word in other languages

because(English)porque(Español)puisque(Français)porque(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddenn
  • dnen
  • ednn

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of denn - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ddenn1dnen2ednn2
Edit distance from "denn"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "denn"?
"denn" is spelled D-E-N-N. The IPA pronunciation is [dɛn].
What does "denn" mean?
As a conjunction, "denn" means: leitet einen Hauptsatz ein, der den Grund für das, was vorher festgestellt wurde, liefert
What words are commonly confused with "denn"?
"denn" is commonly confused with "der", "des", "don". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "denn"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "denn" is [dɛn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "denn" come from?
"denn" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "denn", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ganz#103will#109Zeit#101viel#100

What to do next

You've looked up "denn". Here's where to go from here.

  • "denn" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "der". View pair
  • 3 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #105 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list