dehnenvsdehntWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,818
“dehnen” frequency rank
#32,474
“dehnt” frequency rank
59292
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dehnen dehnt
Definition etwas ausweiten, strecken, vergrößern 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dehnen

Where the eye mixes dehnen and dehnt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. dehnen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against dehnt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
dehnen
5 ch
dehnt

Look-alike desk: dehnen vs dehnt

A purely visual mix-up. dehnen ([ˈdeːnən]) and dehnt ([deːnt]) 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 59292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dehnen is recorded at frequency rank #26,818, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdeːnən]. dehnt is at rank #32,474, tagged as averb, pronounced [deːnt].

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 59292, this pair ranks #829,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dehnen vs dehnt

Shared letters: dehn. Private to "dehnen": -. Private to "dehnt": t.

"dehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "dehnt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dehnen ← ddehnen · dehenn · dehhnen · dehnenn · dehnne · dehnnen · denhen · dhenen
  • dehnt ← ddehnt · dehhnt · dehnnt · dehntt · dehtn · denht · dhent · edhnt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dehnen" for "dehnt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdeːnən] versus [deːnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dehnen" or "dehnt"?
"dehnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,818 in our German list, against #32,474 for "dehnt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dehnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dehnt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #829,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dehnen" and "dehnt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dechant vs dehnt". 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 #829,965 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