drohtvsdrohtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,306
“droht” frequency rank
#25,966
“drohten” frequency rank
29272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature droht drohten
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs drohen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drohen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set droht and drohten apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
droht
7 ch
drohten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. droht ([dʁoːt]) and drohten ([ˈdʁoːtn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “droht” sits inside “drohten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

droht is recorded at frequency rank #3,306, classified as averb, pronounced [dʁoːt]. drohten is at rank #25,966, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁoːtn̩].

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 29272, this pair ranks #1,769,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of droht vs drohten

Shared letters: dhort. Private to "droht": -. Private to "drohten": en.

"droht" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "drohten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • drohtddroht · dorht · drhot · drohht · drohtt · droth · drroht · rdoht
  • drohtenddrohten · dorhten · drhoten · drohetn · drohhten · drohtenn · drohtne · drohtten

Frequency comparison

droht#3,306
drohten#25,966

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "droht" and "drohten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([dʁoːt] versus [ˈdʁoːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "droht" or "drohten"?
"droht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,306 in our German list, against #25,966 for "drohten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering droht vs drohten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “droht” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list