Which to use
“drehen” and “drehst” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,438
- “drehen” frequency rank
- #38,688
- “drehst” frequency rank
- 41126
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | drehen | drehst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas um eine Achse bewegen | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs drehen |
Where the eye mixes drehen and drehst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. drehen (CCVCVC) and drehst (CCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses drehen with drehst
A purely visual mix-up. drehen ([ˈdʁeːən]) and drehst ([dʁeːst]) 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 41126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
drehen is recorded at frequency rank #2,438, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁeːən]. drehst is at rank #38,688, tagged as averb, pronounced [dʁeːst].
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 41126, this pair ranks #1,488,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of drehen vs drehst
Shared letters: dehr. Private to "drehen": n. Private to "drehst": st.
"drehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "drehst" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "drehen" and "drehst" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "drehen" or "drehst"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "drehen" and "drehst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "drehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drehst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,488,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "drehen" and "drehst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drehst vs dröhnt". 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 #1,488,567 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.