Which to use
“dell” is a verb and “dess” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,204
- “dell” frequency rank
- #48,817
- “dess” frequency rank
- 67021
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dell | dess |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dellen | 3. Person Utrum Singular Genitiv des Personalpronomens den |
Where the eye mixes dell and dess
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. dell and dess follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between dell and dess
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dell is [dɛl] while dess is [ˈdɛ̝sː]. 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 (verb vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dell is recorded at frequency rank #18,204, classified as averb, pronounced [dɛl]. 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 67021, this pair ranks #553,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dell vs dess
Shared letters: de. Private to "dell": l. Private to "dess": s.
"dell" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dell" and "dess" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dell" vs "dess" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dell" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dess" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #553,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dell" and "dess" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dess vs dew". 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 #553,836 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.