DahmevsDäneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Dahme is a name, Däne is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Dahme” is a name and “Däne” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,991
“Dahme” frequency rank
#36,272
“Däne” frequency rank
67263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dahme Däne
Definition ein Fluss in Deutschland, Nebenfluss der Spree Staatsbürger von Dänemark

Where the eye mixes Dahme and Däne

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Dahme runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Däne's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Dahme
4 ch
Däne

Why the eye confuses Dahme with Däne

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dahme is [ˈdaːmə] while Däne is [ˈdɛːnə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dahme is recorded at frequency rank #30,991, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈdaːmə]. Däne is at rank #36,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛːnə].

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 67263, this pair ranks #545,861 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Dahme vs Däne

Shared letters: de. Private to "Dahme": ahm. Private to "Däne": nä.

"Dahme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Däne" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dahme ← adhme · dahem · dahhme · dahmme · damhe · ddahme · dhame

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Dahme" and "Däne" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Dahme" is a name and "Däne" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Dahme" or "Däne" show up more?
"Dahme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,991 in our German list, against #36,272 for "Däne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dahme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Däne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #545,861 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dahme" and "Däne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Däne vs Düne". 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 #545,861 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