dachtevsdichtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#658
“dachte” frequency rank
#12,050
“dichten” frequency rank
12708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dachte dichten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs denken ein sprachliches Kunstwerk verfassen

Where the eye mixes dachte and dichten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
dachte
7 ch
dichten

Why the eye confuses dachte with dichten

A purely visual mix-up. dachte ([ˈdaxtə]) and dichten ([ˈdɪçtn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dachte is recorded at frequency rank #658, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdaxtə]. dichten is at rank #12,050, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɪçtn̩].

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 12708, this pair ranks #1,962,518 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dachte vs dichten

Shared letters: cdeht. Private to "dachte": a. Private to "dichten": in.

"dachte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "dichten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dachteadchte · dacchte · dachet · dachhte · dachtte · dacthe · dahcte · dcahte
  • dichtendcihten · ddichten · dicchten · dichetn · dichhten · dichtenn · dichtne · dichtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dachte" and "dichten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdaxtə] versus [ˈdɪçtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dachte" vs "dichten" - which ranks higher?
"dachte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #658 in our German list, against #12,050 for "dichten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dichten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,962,518 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dachte" and "dichten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deckten vs dichten". 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 #1,962,518 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