dellevsdeltaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#19,865
“delle” frequency rank
#12,257
“delta” frequency rank
32122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delle delta
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dellen Delta

Where the eye mixes delle and delta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
delle
5 ch
delta

Visual trap between delle and delta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: delle is [ˈdɛlə] while delta is [dɛl.ta]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delle is recorded at frequency rank #19,865, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdɛlə]. delta is at rank #12,257, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dɛl.ta].

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 32122, this pair ranks #1,714,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of delle vs delta

Shared letters: del. Private to "delle": -. Private to "delta": at.

"delle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "delta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delleddelle · delel · dlele
  • deltaddelta · delat · dellta · deltta · detla · dleta · edlta

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "delle" and "delta" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "delle" is a verb and "delta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "delle" or "delta"?
"delta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,257 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.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "delle" and "delta" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "delle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "delta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,714,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "delle" and "delta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "degli vs delle". 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 #1,714,249 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