DehnungvsDrehungWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,098
“Dehnung” frequency rank
#18,210
“Drehung” frequency rank
61308
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dehnung Drehung
Definition das Dehnen das Sich-Drehen, das Kreisen um einen Mittelpunkt

Where the eye mixes Dehnung and Drehung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Dehnung (CVCCVCC) and Drehung (CCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
Dehnung
7 ch
Drehung

Why the eye confuses Dehnung with Drehung

A purely visual mix-up. Dehnung ([ˈdeːnʊŋ]) and Drehung ([ˈdʁeːʊŋ]) 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 61308, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dehnung is recorded at frequency rank #43,098, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdeːnʊŋ]. Drehung is at rank #18,210, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdʁeːʊŋ].

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 61308, this pair ranks #754,635 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Dehnung vs Drehung

Shared letters: deghnu. Private to "Dehnung": -. Private to "Drehung": r.

"Dehnung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Drehung" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dehnung ← ddehnung · dehhnung · dehnnug · dehnnung · dehnugn · dehnungg · dehnunng · dehunng
  • Drehung ← ddrehung · derhung · drehhung · drehnug · drehugn · drehungg · drehunng · dreuhng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Dehnung" and "Drehung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdeːnʊŋ] versus [ˈdʁeːʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Dehnung" or "Drehung"?
"Drehung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,210 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dehnung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Drehung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #754,635 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dehnung" and "Drehung" 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 #754,635 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