Which to use
“dachten” and “drohten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,891
- “dachten” frequency rank
- #25,966
- “drohten” frequency rank
- 33857
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dachten | drohten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs denken | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drohen |
Where the eye mixes dachten and drohten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dachten (CVCCCVC) and drohten (CCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: dachten vs drohten
A purely visual mix-up. dachten ([ˈdaxtn̩]) and drohten ([ˈdʁoːtn̩]) 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 33857, 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]. drohten is at rank #25,966, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁoːtn̩].
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 33857, this pair ranks #1,676,504 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dachten vs drohten
Shared letters: dehnt. Private to "dachten": ac. Private to "drohten": or.
"dachten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "drohten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dachten" and "drohten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dachten" or "drohten"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dachten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drohten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,676,504 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dachten" and "drohten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drohe vs drohten". 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 #1,676,504 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.