DatenvsdauernConfusable pair

Quick tell: Daten is a noun, dauern is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Daten” is a noun and “dauern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#808
“Daten” frequency rank
#2,883
“dauern” frequency rank
3691
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Daten dauern
Definition Sammlung ermittelter/gewonnener Messwerte oder auch statistischer Angaben zu etwas über bestimmten Zeitraum erstrecken, für eine bestimmt Zeitspanne anhalten, währen

Where the eye mixes Daten and dauern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Daten
6 ch
dauern

Visual trap between Daten and dauern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Daten is [ˈdaːtn̩] while dauern is [ˈdaʊ̯ɐn]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3691, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Daten is recorded at frequency rank #808, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdaːtn̩]. dauern is at rank #2,883, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdaʊ̯ɐn].

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 3691, this pair ranks #1,999,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Daten vs dauern

Shared letters: aden. Private to "Daten": t. Private to "dauern": ru.

"Daten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "dauern" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Datenadten · daetn · datenn · datne · datten · ddaten · dtaen
  • dauernaduern · daeurn · dauenr · dauernn · dauerrn · dauren · ddauern · duaern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Daten" and "dauern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Daten" is a noun and "dauern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Daten" or "dauern" show up more?
"Daten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #808 in our German list, against #2,883 for "dauern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Daten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dauern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,999,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Daten" and "dauern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Daten vs duften". 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 #1,999,618 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