Which to use
“degli” is a preposition and “demi” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,845
- “degli” frequency rank
- #36,873
- “demi” frequency rank
- 82718
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | degli | demi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Verschmelzung der Präposition di mit dem bestimmten Artikel gli | halb |
Where the eye mixes degli and demi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. degli runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against demi's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses degli with demi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: degli is [ˈdeʎʎi] while demi is [də.mi]. 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 (preposition vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82718, 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]. demi is at rank #36,873, tagged as anadj, pronounced [də.mi].
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 82718, this pair ranks #152,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of degli vs demi
Shared letters: dei. Private to "degli": gl. Private to "demi": m.
"degli" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "demi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "degli" and "demi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "degli" or "demi" show up more?
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 "degli" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "degli" and "demi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demi vs dess". 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 #152,282 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.