DelhivsdelleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Delhi is a name, delle is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Delhi” is a name and “delle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,864
“Delhi” frequency rank
#19,865
“delle” frequency rank
39729
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Delhi delle
Definition indische Metropole, zu der auch die Hauptstadt Neu-Delhi gehört 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dellen

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Delhi
5 ch
delle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Delhi is [ˈdeːli] while delle is [ˈdɛlə]. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Delhi is recorded at frequency rank #19,864, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈdeːli]. delle is at rank #19,865, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɛlə].

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 39729, this pair ranks #1,528,609 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Delhi vs delle

Shared letters: del. Private to "Delhi": hi. Private to "delle": -.

"Delhi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "delle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Delhiddelhi · dehli · delhhi · delih · dellhi · dlehi · edlhi
  • delleddelle · delel · dlele

Frequency comparison

Delhi#19,864
delle#19,865

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Delhi" and "delle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Delhi" is a name and "delle" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Delhi" or "delle"?
"Delhi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,864 in our German list, against #19,865 for "delle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Delhi vs delle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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