Which to use
“drehen” is a verb and “Drehung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,438
- “drehen” frequency rank
- #18,210
- “Drehung” frequency rank
- 20648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | drehen | Drehung |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas um eine Achse bewegen | das Sich-Drehen, das Kreisen um einen Mittelpunkt |
Where the eye mixes drehen and Drehung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. drehen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against Drehung's 7 (CCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses drehen with Drehung
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: drehen is [ˈdʁeːən] while Drehung is [ˈdʁeːʊŋ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20648, 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]. Drehung is at rank #18,210, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdʁeːʊŋ].
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 20648, this pair ranks #1,895,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of drehen vs Drehung
Shared letters: dehnr. Private to "drehen": -. Private to "Drehung": gu.
"drehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "Drehung" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "drehen" and "Drehung" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "drehen" or "Drehung"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "drehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Drehung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,895,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "drehen" and "Drehung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Drehung vs Drehungen". 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 #1,895,344 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.