Which to use
“Dauer” is a noun and “dauerte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,238
- “Dauer” frequency rank
- #4,969
- “dauerte” frequency rank
- 7207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Dauer | dauerte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zeitliche Erstreckung von etwas | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs dauern |
Where the eye mixes Dauer and dauerte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Dauer with dauerte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dauer is [ˈdaʊ̯ɐ] while dauerte is [ˈdaʊ̯ɐtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Dauer” sits inside “dauerte”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Dauer is recorded at frequency rank #2,238, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdaʊ̯ɐ]. dauerte is at rank #4,969, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdaʊ̯ɐtə].
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 7207, this pair ranks #1,989,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Dauer vs dauerte
Shared letters: aderu. Private to "Dauer": -. Private to "dauerte": t.
"Dauer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "dauerte" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Dauer" and "dauerte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Dauer" vs "dauerte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Dauer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dauerte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,989,013 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Dauer" and "dauerte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dare vs Dauer". 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 #1,989,013 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.