Which to use
“darf” and “dürfe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #293
- “darf” frequency rank
- #7,900
- “dürfe” frequency rank
- 8193
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | darf | dürfe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dürfen | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dürfen |
Where the eye mixes darf and dürfe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between darf and dürfe
A purely visual mix-up. darf ([daʁf]) 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 8193, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
darf is recorded at frequency rank #293, classified as averb, pronounced [daʁf]. 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 8193, this pair ranks #1,985,259 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of darf vs dürfe
Shared letters: dfr. Private to "darf": a. Private to "dürfe": eü.
"darf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dürfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- darf ← adrf · dafr · darff · darrf · ddarf · draf
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "darf" and "dürfe" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "darf" vs "dürfe" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "darf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dürfe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,985,259 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "darf" and "dürfe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duran vs dürfe". 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 #1,985,259 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.