delvsderbConfusable pair

Quick tell: del is a abbrev, derb is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“del” is an abbrev and “derb” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,719
“del” frequency rank
#42,415
“derb” frequency rank
46134
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature del derb
Definition Bezeichnung für ∂, ein Symbol für die partielle Ableitung – es ist nicht mit dem kleinen Delta δ zu verwechseln unverdorben, kräftig

Letter map: del vs derb

Shared letters muted; letters that set del and derb apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
del
4 ch
derb

Grammar separator: del vs derb

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: del is anabbrev and derbanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

del is recorded at frequency rank #3,719, classified as anabbrev. 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 46134, this pair ranks #1,329,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of del vs derb

Shared letters: de. Private to "del": l. Private to "derb": br.

"del" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "derb" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • derbdderb · debr · derbb · derrb · dreb · edrb

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "del" and "derb" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "del" is an abbrev and "derb" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "del" vs "derb" - which ranks higher?
"del" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,719 in our German list, against #42,415 for "derb". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "del" and "derb". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "del" 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 #1,329,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "del" 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 #1,329,466 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list