drängtenvsdringenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,304
“drängten” frequency rank
#17,261
“dringen” frequency rank
39565
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature drängten dringen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drängen sich einen Weg bahnen, insbesondere Licht, Rauch und Ähnliches

Where the eye mixes drängten and dringen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. drängten runs 8 letters (CCVCCCVC) against dringen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
drängten
7 ch
dringen

Why the eye confuses drängten with dringen

A purely visual mix-up. drängten ([ˈdʁɛŋtn̩]) and dringen ([ˈdʁɪŋən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

drängten is recorded at frequency rank #22,304, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁɛŋtn̩]. dringen is at rank #17,261, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁɪŋən].

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 39565, this pair ranks #1,533,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of drängten vs dringen

Shared letters: degnr. Private to "drängten": tä. Private to "dringen": i.

"drängten" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC  ·  "dringen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dringen ← ddringen · dirngen · drignen · drinegn · dringenn · dringgen · dringne · drinngen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "drängten" and "dringen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʁɛŋtn̩] versus [ˈdʁɪŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "drängten" or "dringen"?
"dringen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,261 in our German list, against #22,304 for "drängten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "drängten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dringen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,533,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "drängten" and "dringen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drängeln vs drängten". 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 #1,533,260 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