dehntvsdrehtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,474
“dehnt” frequency rank
#2,951
“dreht” frequency rank
35425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes dehnt and dreht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. dehnt (CVCCC) and dreht (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
dehnt
5 ch
dreht

Visual trap between dehnt and dreht

A purely visual mix-up. dehnt ([deːnt]) and dreht ([dʁeːt]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35425, 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]. dreht is at rank #2,951, tagged as averb, pronounced [dʁeːt].

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 35425, this pair ranks #1,640,327 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dehnt vs dreht

Shared letters: deht. Private to "dehnt": n. Private to "dreht": r.

"dehnt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "dreht" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dehnt ← ddehnt · dehhnt · dehnnt · dehntt · dehtn · denht · dhent · edhnt
  • dreht ← ddreht · derht · drehht · drehtt · dreth · drhet · drreht · rdeht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dehnt" and "dreht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([deːnt] versus [dʁeːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dehnt" vs "dreht" - which ranks higher?
"dreht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,951 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.

Useful next steps

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 "dreht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,640,327 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dehnt" and "dreht" 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 #1,640,327 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