druckenvsdrückteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,594
“drucken” frequency rank
#10,839
“drückte” frequency rank
18433
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature drucken drückte
Definition durch Druck vervielfältigen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs drücken

Where the eye mixes drucken and drückte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. drucken (CCVCCVC) and drückte (CCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
drucken
7 ch
drückte

Look-alike desk: drucken vs drückte

A purely visual mix-up. drucken ([ˈdʁʊkn̩]) and drückte ([ˈdʁʏktə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

drucken is recorded at frequency rank #7,594, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁʊkn̩]. drückte is at rank #10,839, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʁʏktə].

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 18433, this pair ranks #1,918,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of drucken vs drückte

Shared letters: cdekr. Private to "drucken": nu. Private to "drückte": tü.

"drucken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "drückte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • drucken ← ddrucken · drcuken · drrucken · druccken · drucekn · druckenn · druckken · druckne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "drucken" and "drückte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʁʊkn̩] versus [ˈdʁʏktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "drucken" or "drückte"?
"drucken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,594 in our German list, against #10,839 for "drückte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "drucken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "drückte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,918,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "drucken" and "drückte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drucken vs Drüsen". 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 #1,918,268 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list