Which to use
“drehte” and “drehten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,351
- “drehte” frequency rank
- #17,260
- “drehten” frequency rank
- 22611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | drehte | drehten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drehen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drehen |
Where the eye mixes drehte and drehten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. drehte runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against drehten's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses drehte with drehten
A purely visual mix-up. drehte ([ˈdʁeːtə]) and drehten ([ˈdʁeːtn̩]) 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) - “drehte” sits inside “drehten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
drehte is recorded at frequency rank #5,351, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁeːtə]. drehten is at rank #17,260, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁeːtn̩].
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 22611, this pair ranks #1,872,041 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of drehte vs drehten
Shared letters: dehrt. Private to "drehte": -. Private to "drehten": n.
"drehte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "drehten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "drehte" and "drehten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "drehte" vs "drehten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "drehte" and "drehten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "drehte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drehten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,872,041 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "drehte" and "drehten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Drähte vs drehten". 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 #1,872,041 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.