Which to use
“dein” is a pronoun and “don” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #316
- “dein” frequency rank
- #3,645
- “don” frequency rank
- 3961
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dein | don |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Spende, Gabe |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dein and don apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
dein and don form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dein is recorded at frequency rank #316, classified as apron, pronounced [daɪ̯n]. don is at rank #3,645, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dɔ̃].
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 3961, this pair ranks #1,998,914 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dein" and "don" be used interchangeably?
Remembering dein vs don
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “dein”; for a noun, it's “don”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dein” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable