del vs dess, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,719
“del” frequency rank: #48,817
“dess” frequency rank: 52536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	del	dess
Definition	Bezeichnung für ∂, ein Symbol für die partielle Ableitung – es ist nicht mit dem kleinen Delta δ zu verwechseln	3. Person Utrum Singular Genitiv des Personalpronomens den

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set del and dess apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

del

4 ch

dess

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: del is anabbrev and dessanunknown. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

del is recorded at frequency rank #3,719, classified as anabbrev. dess is at rank #48,817, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdɛ̝sː].

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 52536, this pair ranks #1,092,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of del vs dess

Shared letters: de. Private to "del": l. Private to "dess": s.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

dess ← ddess · deß · dses · edss

Frequency comparison

del#3,719

dess#48,817

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "del" and "dess" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "del" is an abbrev and "dess" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "del" or "dess"?

"del" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,719 in our German list, against #48,817 for "dess". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering del vs dess

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an abbrev, it's “del”; for an unknown, it's “dess”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “del” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable