Which to use
“dehnen” and “dienen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,818
- “dehnen” frequency rank
- #1,963
- “dienen” frequency rank
- 28781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dehnen | dienen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas ausweiten, strecken, vergrößern | in untergeordneter Stellung für jemanden arbeiten |
Where the eye mixes dehnen and dienen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dehnen (CVCCVC) and dienen (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: dehnen vs dienen
A purely visual mix-up. dehnen ([ˈdeːnən]) and dienen ([ˈdiːnən]) 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 28781, 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]. dienen is at rank #1,963, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdiːnən].
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 28781, this pair ranks #1,778,730 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dehnen vs dienen
Shared letters: den. Private to "dehnen": h. Private to "dienen": i.
"dehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "dienen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dehnen" and "dienen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dehnen" or "dienen"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "dehnen" and "dienen" 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 "dienen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,778,730 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dehnen" and "dienen" 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 #1,778,730 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.