DeckungvsDehnungConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,742
“Deckung” frequency rank
#43,098
“Dehnung” frequency rank
50840
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Deckung Dehnung
Definition Schutz durch ein Objekt davor, gesehen und/oder direkt angegriffen zu werden das Dehnen

Where the eye mixes Deckung and Dehnung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Deckung and Dehnung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Deckung
7 ch
Dehnung

Why the eye confuses Deckung with Dehnung

A purely visual mix-up. Deckung ([ˈdɛkʊŋ]) and Dehnung ([ˈdeːnʊŋ]) 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 50840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Deckung is recorded at frequency rank #7,742, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛkʊŋ]. Dehnung is at rank #43,098, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdeːnʊŋ].

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 50840, this pair ranks #1,158,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Deckung vs Dehnung

Shared letters: degnu. Private to "Deckung": ck. Private to "Dehnung": h.

"Deckung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Dehnung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Deckungdcekung · ddeckung · decckung · deckkung · decknug · deckugn · deckungg · deckunng
  • Dehnungddehnung · dehhnung · dehnnug · dehnnung · dehnugn · dehnungg · dehnunng · dehunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Deckung" for "Dehnung" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdɛkʊŋ] versus [ˈdeːnʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Deckung" vs "Dehnung" - which ranks higher?
"Deckung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,742 in our German list, against #43,098 for "Dehnung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Deckung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dehnung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,158,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Deckung" and "Dehnung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dehnen vs Dehnung". 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 #1,158,390 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