degvsdoiWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“deg” and “doi” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,522
“deg” frequency rank
#42,427
“doi” frequency rank
75949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deg doi
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs degt 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs doić

Where the eye mixes deg and doi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. deg (CVC) and doi (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
deg
3 ch
doi

Visual trap between deg and doi

A purely visual mix-up. deg ([dɛk]) and doi ([ˈdɔji]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deg is recorded at frequency rank #33,522, classified as averb, pronounced [dɛk]. doi is at rank #42,427, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɔji].

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 75949, this pair ranks #295,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of deg vs doi

Shared letters: d. Private to "deg": eg. Private to "doi": io.

"deg" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "doi" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deg" and "doi" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([dɛk] versus [ˈdɔji]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "deg" vs "doi" - which ranks higher?
"deg" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,522 in our German list, against #42,427 for "doi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "deg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #295,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deg" and "doi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doi vs dörr". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #295,388 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