deinevsdeuteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: deine is a unknown, deute is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“deine” is an unknown and “deute” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#255
“deine” frequency rank
#37,447
“deute” frequency rank
37702
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deine deute
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum des Possessivpronomens dein 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs deuten

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
deine
5 ch
deute

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deine is [ˈdaɪ̯nə] while deute is [ˈdɔɪ̯tə]. 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 (unknown vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deine is recorded at frequency rank #255, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdaɪ̯nə]. deute is at rank #37,447, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɔɪ̯tə].

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 37702, this pair ranks #1,583,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deine vs deute

Shared letters: de. Private to "deine": in. Private to "deute": tu.

"deine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "deute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deineddeine · deien · deinne · denie · edine
  • deuteddeute · detue · deuet · duete · edute

Frequency comparison

deine#255
deute#37,447

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deine" and "deute" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deine" is an unknown and "deute" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "deine" or "deute"?
"deine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #255 in our German list, against #37,447 for "deute". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering deine vs deute

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “deine”; for a verb, it's “deute”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “deine” 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