Which to use
“delle” is a verb and “dolle” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,865
- “delle” frequency rank
- #31,002
- “dolle” frequency rank
- 50867
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delle | dolle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dellen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs doll |
Where the eye mixes delle and dolle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. delle and dolle follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between delle and dolle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: delle is [ˈdɛlə] while dolle is [ˈdɔlə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “delle” becomes o in “dolle”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50867, 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]. dolle is at rank #31,002, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɔlə].
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 50867, this pair ranks #1,157,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of delle vs dolle
Shared letters: del. Private to "delle": -. Private to "dolle": o.
"delle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dolle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "delle" for "dolle" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "delle" or "dolle" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "delle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dolle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,157,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delle" and "dolle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dolby vs dolle". 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 #1,157,311 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.