Which to use
“dare” is a verb and “derbe” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,517
- “dare” frequency rank
- #20,213
- “derbe” frequency rank
- 64730
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dare | derbe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | es wagen, zu (+Infinitiv); den Mut haben, zu (+Infinitiv) | sehr gut, nicht schlecht |
Where the eye mixes dare and derbe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dare and derbe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dare is [deə(ɹ)] while derbe is [ˈdɛʁbə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dare is recorded at frequency rank #44,517, classified as averb, pronounced [deə(ɹ)]. derbe is at rank #20,213, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɛʁbə].
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 64730, this pair ranks #631,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dare vs derbe
Shared letters: der. Private to "dare": a. Private to "derbe": b.
"dare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "derbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dare" for "derbe" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dare" vs "derbe" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dare" and "derbe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #631,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dare" and "derbe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dare vs dörr". 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 #631,312 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.