deglivsdellaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,845
“degli” frequency rank
#11,845
“della” frequency rank
57690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature degli della
Definition Verschmelzung der Präposition di mit dem bestimmten Artikel gli Verschmelzung der Präposition di mit dem bestimmten Artikel la

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set degli and della apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
degli
5 ch
della

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. degli ([ˈdeʎʎi]) and della ([ˈdella]) 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 57690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

degli is recorded at frequency rank #45,845, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈdeʎʎi]. della is at rank #11,845, tagged as aprep, pronounced [ˈdella].

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 57690, this pair ranks #891,460 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of degli vs della

Shared letters: del. Private to "degli": gi. Private to "della": a.

"degli" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "della" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • degliddegli · deggli · degil · deglli · delgi · dgeli · edgli
  • delladdella · delal · dlela · edlla

Frequency comparison

degli#45,845
della#11,845

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degli" and "della" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdeʎʎi] versus [ˈdella]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "degli" or "della"?
"della" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,845 in our German list, against #45,845 for "degli". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering degli vs della

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “degli” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list