Which to use
“dein” is a pronoun and “derb” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #316
- “dein” frequency rank
- #42,415
- “derb” frequency rank
- 42731
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dein | derb |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Form des Possessivpronomens „dein, deine, dein“: Zeigt den Besitz, das Eigentum oder die Zugehörigkeit einer Person bzw. Sache zu einer dem Sprecher direkt gegenüberstehenden Person, Sache an | unverdorben, kräftig |
Where the eye mixes dein and derb
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dein vs derb
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dein is [daɪ̯n] while derb is [dɛʁp]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42731, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dein is recorded at frequency rank #316, classified as apron, pronounced [daɪ̯n]. derb is at rank #42,415, tagged as anadj, pronounced [dɛʁp].
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 42731, this pair ranks #1,440,299 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dein vs derb
Shared letters: de. Private to "dein": in. Private to "derb": br.
"dein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "derb" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dein" and "derb" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dein" vs "derb" - which ranks higher?
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 "dein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derb" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,440,299 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dein" and "derb" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derb vs dörr". 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 #1,440,299 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.