Which to use
“direkte” is an adjective and “drehte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,236
- “direkte” frequency rank
- #5,351
- “drehte” frequency rank
- 8587
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | direkte | drehte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs direkt | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drehen |
Where the eye mixes direkte and drehte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. direkte runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against drehte's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses direkte with drehte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: direkte is [diˈʁɛktə] while drehte is [ˈdʁeːtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
direkte is recorded at frequency rank #3,236, classified as anadj, pronounced [diˈʁɛktə]. drehte is at rank #5,351, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁeːtə].
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 8587, this pair ranks #1,983,706 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of direkte vs drehte
Shared letters: dert. Private to "direkte": ik. Private to "drehte": h.
"direkte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "drehte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "direkte" for "drehte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "direkte" vs "drehte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "direkte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drehte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,983,706 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "direkte" and "drehte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "direkte vs Direktive". 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 #1,983,706 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.