delvsdpaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“del” and “dpa” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,719
“del” frequency rank
#3,366
“dpa” frequency rank
7085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature del dpa
Definition Bezeichnung für ∂, ein Symbol für die partielle Ableitung – es ist nicht mit dem kleinen Delta δ zu verwechseln die Abkürzung für „Deutsche Presse-Agentur“, auch „Deutsche Presseagentur“ geschrieben

Letter map: del vs dpa

Shared letters muted; letters that set del and dpa apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
del
3 ch
dpa

Spelling & dictionary notes on del vs dpa

del and dpa are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

del is recorded at frequency rank #3,719, classified as anabbrev. dpa is at rank #3,366, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [deːpeːˈʔaː].

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 7085, this pair ranks #1,989,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of del vs dpa

Shared letters: d. Private to "del": el. Private to "dpa": ap.

"del" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dpa" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "del" and "dpa" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary German text, does "del" or "dpa" show up more?
"dpa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,366 in our German list, against #3,719 for "del". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "del" and "dpa".

  • Full dictionary entry for "del" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dpa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,989,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "del" and "dpa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "del vs diet". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,989,425 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