Which to use
“dein” is a pronoun and “dorn” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #316
- “dein” frequency rank
- #12,693
- “dorn” frequency rank
- 13009
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dein | dorn |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Hand |
Where the eye mixes dein and dorn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. dein (CVVC) and dorn (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: dein vs dorn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dein is [daɪ̯n] while dorn is [ˈdɔrn]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dein is recorded at frequency rank #316, classified as apron, pronounced [daɪ̯n]. dorn is at rank #12,693, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɔrn].
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 13009, this pair ranks #1,960,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dein vs dorn
Shared letters: dn. Private to "dein": ei. Private to "dorn": or.
"dein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dorn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dein" for "dorn" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "dein" or "dorn" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "dorn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,960,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dein" and "dorn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dorn vs duran". 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 #1,960,680 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.