dehntvsdientWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,474
“dehnt” frequency rank
#2,055
“dient” frequency rank
34529
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dehnt dient
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dehnen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dienen

Where the eye mixes dehnt and dient

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
dehnt
5 ch
dient

Look-alike desk: dehnt vs dient

A purely visual mix-up. dehnt ([deːnt]) and dient ([diːnt]) 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 34529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dehnt is recorded at frequency rank #32,474, classified as averb, pronounced [deːnt]. dient is at rank #2,055, tagged as averb, pronounced [diːnt].

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 34529, this pair ranks #1,661,242 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dehnt vs dient

Shared letters: dent. Private to "dehnt": h. Private to "dient": i.

"dehnt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "dient" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dehntddehnt · dehhnt · dehnnt · dehntt · dehtn · denht · dhent · edhnt
  • dientddient · deint · diennt · dientt · dietn · dinet · ident

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dehnt" for "dient" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([deːnt] versus [diːnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dehnt" or "dient"?
"dient" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,055 in our German list, against #32,474 for "dehnt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dehnt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,661,242 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dehnt" and "dient" 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 #1,661,242 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