gedachtenvsgedrehtenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,054
“gedachten” frequency rank
#49,700
“gedrehten” frequency rank
81754
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gedachten gedrehten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gedacht Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gedreht

Where the eye mixes gedachten and gedrehten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gedachten (CVCVCCCVC) and gedrehten (CVCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
gedachten
9 ch
gedrehten

Why the eye confuses gedachten with gedrehten

A purely visual mix-up. gedachten ([ɡəˈdaxtn̩]) and gedrehten ([ɡəˈdʁeːtn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gedachten is recorded at frequency rank #32,054, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈdaxtn̩]. gedrehten is at rank #49,700, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈdʁeːtn̩].

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 81754, this pair ranks #169,776 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gedachten vs gedrehten

Shared letters: deghnt. Private to "gedachten": ac. Private to "gedrehten": r.

"gedachten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "gedrehten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gedachtenegdachten · gdeachten · geadchten · gedacchten · gedachetn · gedachhten · gedachtenn · gedachtne
  • gedrehtenegdrehten · gderehten · geddrehten · gederhten · gedrehetn · gedrehhten · gedrehtenn · gedrehtne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gedachten" and "gedrehten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈdaxtn̩] versus [ɡəˈdʁeːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gedachten" or "gedrehten" show up more?
"gedachten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,054 in our German list, against #49,700 for "gedrehten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "gedachten" and "gedrehten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gedachten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gedrehten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #169,776 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gedachten" and "gedrehten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geächtet vs gedachten". 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 #169,776 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