Which to use
“drehten” and “drohte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,260
- “drehten” frequency rank
- #9,352
- “drohte” frequency rank
- 26612
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | drehten | drohte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drehen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drohen |
Where the eye mixes drehten and drohte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. drehten runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against drohte's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses drehten with drohte
A purely visual mix-up. drehten ([ˈdʁeːtn̩]) and drohte ([ˈdʁoːtə]) 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 26612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
drehten is recorded at frequency rank #17,260, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁeːtn̩]. drohte is at rank #9,352, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁoːtə].
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 26612, this pair ranks #1,815,357 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of drehten vs drohte
Shared letters: dehrt. Private to "drehten": n. Private to "drohte": o.
"drehten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "drohte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "drehten" and "drohte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "drehten" or "drohte"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "drehten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drohte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,815,357 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "drehten" and "drohte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dröhnt vs drohte". 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 #1,815,357 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.