Which to use
“dasselbe” is a pronoun and “dieselbe” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,386
- “dasselbe” frequency rank
- #4,258
- “dieselbe” frequency rank
- 6644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dasselbe | dieselbe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Neutrum des Pronomens derselbe | Nominativ Singular Femininum des Pronomens derselbe |
Where the eye mixes dasselbe and dieselbe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dasselbe (CVCCVCCV) and dieselbe (CVVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: dasselbe vs dieselbe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dasselbe is [dasˈzɛlbə] while dieselbe is [diːˈzɛlbə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dasselbe is recorded at frequency rank #2,386, classified as apron, pronounced [dasˈzɛlbə]. dieselbe is at rank #4,258, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [diːˈzɛlbə].
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 6644, this pair ranks #1,990,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dasselbe vs dieselbe
Shared letters: bdels. Private to "dasselbe": a. Private to "dieselbe": i.
"dasselbe" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "dieselbe" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dasselbe" and "dieselbe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dasselbe" or "dieselbe"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dasselbe" and "dieselbe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dasselbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dieselbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,990,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dasselbe" and "dieselbe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derselbe vs dieselbe". 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 #1,990,939 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.