Which to use
“demselben” is an unknown and “derselbe” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,893
- “demselben” frequency rank
- #9,168
- “derselbe” frequency rank
- 17061
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demselben | derselbe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular Maskulinum des Demonstrativpronomens derselbe | bezeichnet die Identität mit einem vorausgegangenen oder bekannten Ding im Gegensatz zu einem anderen Ding derselben Art, für das "der gleiche" zu verwenden ist |
Where the eye mixes demselben and derselbe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. demselben runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against derselbe's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses demselben with derselbe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: demselben is [deːmˈzɛlbn̩] while derselbe is [deːɐ̯ˈzɛlbə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
demselben is recorded at frequency rank #7,893, classified as anunknown, pronounced [deːmˈzɛlbn̩]. derselbe is at rank #9,168, tagged as apron, pronounced [deːɐ̯ˈzɛlbə].
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 17061, this pair ranks #1,930,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of demselben vs derselbe
Shared letters: bdels. Private to "demselben": mn. Private to "derselbe": r.
"demselben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "derselbe" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "demselben" and "derselbe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "demselben" or "derselbe"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "demselben" and "derselbe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "demselben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derselbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,930,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demselben" and "derselbe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derselbe vs desselben". 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 #1,930,694 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.