drängenvsdrängteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,748
“drängen” frequency rank
#17,262
“drängte” frequency rank
25010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature drängen drängte
Definition jemanden an einen Ort bewegen, ohne dass er es will 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drängen

Where the eye mixes drängen and drängte

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

7 ch
drängen
7 ch
drängte

Look-alike desk: drängen vs drängte

A purely visual mix-up. drängen ([ˈdʁɛŋən]) and drängte ([ˈdʁɛŋtə]) 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 25010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

drängen is recorded at frequency rank #7,748, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁɛŋən]. drängte is at rank #17,262, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁɛŋtə].

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 25010, this pair ranks #1,839,424 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of drängen vs drängte

Shared letters: degnrä. Private to "drängen": -. Private to "drängte": t.

"drängen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "drängte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "drängen" and "drängte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʁɛŋən] versus [ˈdʁɛŋtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "drängen" vs "drängte" - which ranks higher?
"drängen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,748 in our German list, against #17,262 for "drängte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "drängen" and "drängte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "drängen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "drängte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,839,424 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "drängen" and "drängte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "danger vs drängen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,839,424 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