drängtvsdrängteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,543
“drängt” frequency rank
#17,262
“drängte” frequency rank
25805
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature drängt drängte
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs drängen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drängen

Where the eye mixes drängt and drängte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. drängt runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against drängte's 7 (CCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
drängt
7 ch
drängte

Look-alike desk: drängt vs drängte

A purely visual mix-up. drängt ([dʁɛŋt]) 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “drängt” sits inside “drängte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

drängt is recorded at frequency rank #8,543, classified as averb, pronounced [dʁɛŋt]. 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 25805, this pair ranks #1,827,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of drängt vs drängte

Shared letters: dgnrtä. Private to "drängt": -. Private to "drängte": e.

"drängt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "drängte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "drängt" and "drängte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([dʁɛŋt] versus [ˈdʁɛŋtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "drängt" or "drängte"?
"drängt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,543 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "drängt" 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 #1,827,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "drängt" and "drängte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Drähte vs drängte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,827,728 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