darevsdürfeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,517
“dare” frequency rank
#7,900
“dürfe” frequency rank
52417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dare dürfe
Definition es wagen, zu (+Infinitiv); den Mut haben, zu (+Infinitiv) 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dürfen

Where the eye mixes dare and dürfe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
dare
5 ch
dürfe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dare ([deə(ɹ)]) and dürfe ([ˈdʏʁfə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52417, 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)]. dürfe is at rank #7,900, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʏʁfə].

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 52417, this pair ranks #1,097,820 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dare vs dürfe

Shared letters: der. Private to "dare": a. Private to "dürfe": .

"dare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dürfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • daredarre · ddare · drae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dare" and "dürfe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([deə(ɹ)] versus [ˈdʏʁfə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dare" or "dürfe"?
"dürfe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,900 in our German list, against #44,517 for "dare". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list