DaumenvsduzenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#4,782
“Daumen” frequency rank
#35,717
“duzen” frequency rank
40499
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Daumen duzen
Definition Finger der Hand, der nur aus zwei Fingergliedknochen besteht und aufgrund seiner Position und Beweglichkeit den anderen Fingern gegenübergestellt werden kann mit du anreden

Where the eye mixes Daumen and duzen

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

6 ch
Daumen
5 ch
duzen

Look-alike desk: Daumen vs duzen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Daumen is [ˈdaʊ̯mən] while duzen is [ˈduːt͡sn̩]. 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 40499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Daumen is recorded at frequency rank #4,782, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdaʊ̯mən]. duzen is at rank #35,717, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈduːt͡sn̩].

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 40499, this pair ranks #1,506,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Daumen vs duzen

Shared letters: denu. Private to "Daumen": am. Private to "duzen": z.

"Daumen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "duzen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Daumenadumen · damuen · dauemn · daumenn · daummen · daumne · ddaumen · duamen
  • duzendduzen · duezn · duzenn · duzne · duzzen · dzuen · udzen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Daumen" for "duzen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Daumen" is a noun and "duzen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Daumen" vs "duzen" - which ranks higher?
"Daumen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,782 in our German list, against #35,717 for "duzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Daumen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,506,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Daumen" and "duzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duran vs duzen". 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 #1,506,691 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