decktevsdrückteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#29,997
“deckte” frequency rank
#10,839
“drückte” frequency rank
40836
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deckte drückte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs decken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drücken

Where the eye mixes deckte and drückte

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

6 ch
deckte
7 ch
drückte

Look-alike desk: deckte vs drückte

A purely visual mix-up. deckte ([ˈdɛktə]) and drückte ([ˈdʁʏktə]) 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 40836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deckte is recorded at frequency rank #29,997, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdɛktə]. drückte is at rank #10,839, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁʏktə].

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 40836, this pair ranks #1,496,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of deckte vs drückte

Shared letters: cdekt. Private to "deckte": -. Private to "drückte": .

"deckte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "drückte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decktedcekte · ddeckte · decckte · decket · deckkte · decktte · dectke · dekcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "deckte" for "drückte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdɛktə] versus [ˈdʁʏktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "deckte" or "drückte" show up more?
"drückte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,839 in our German list, against #29,997 for "deckte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deckte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "drückte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,496,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deckte" and "drückte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deckte vs devote". 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 #1,496,927 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