dachtenvsdecktenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,891
“dachten” frequency rank
#47,305
“deckten” frequency rank
55196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dachten deckten
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs denken 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs decken

Where the eye mixes dachten and deckten

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

7 ch
dachten
7 ch
deckten

Look-alike desk: dachten vs deckten

A purely visual mix-up. dachten ([ˈdaxtn̩]) and deckten ([ˈdɛktn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dachten is recorded at frequency rank #7,891, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdaxtn̩]. deckten is at rank #47,305, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɛktn̩].

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 55196, this pair ranks #988,983 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dachten vs deckten

Shared letters: cdent. Private to "dachten": ah. Private to "deckten": k.

"dachten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "deckten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dachtenadchten · dacchten · dachetn · dachhten · dachtenn · dachtne · dachtten · dacthen
  • decktendcekten · ddeckten · decckten · decketn · deckkten · decktenn · decktne · decktten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dachten" and "deckten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdaxtn̩] versus [ˈdɛktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "dachten" or "deckten" show up more?
"dachten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,891 in our German list, against #47,305 for "deckten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dachten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deckten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #988,983 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dachten" and "deckten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deckten vs dicksten". 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 #988,983 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