Which to use
“demselben” and “derselben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,893
- “demselben” frequency rank
- #4,336
- “derselben” frequency rank
- 12229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demselben | derselben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular Maskulinum des Demonstrativpronomens derselbe | Genitiv Plural des Demonstrativpronomens derselbe |
Where the eye mixes demselben and derselben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. demselben and derselben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: demselben vs derselben
A purely visual mix-up. demselben ([deːmˈzɛlbn̩]) and derselben ([deːɐ̯ˈzɛlbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - m in “demselben” becomes r in “derselben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12229, 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]. derselben is at rank #4,336, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [deːɐ̯ˈzɛlbn̩].
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 12229, this pair ranks #1,965,443 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of demselben vs derselben
Shared letters: bdelns. Private to "demselben": m. Private to "derselben": r.
"demselben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "derselben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "demselben" for "derselben" ever safe?
Frequency check: "demselben" vs "derselben" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "demselben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derselben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,965,443 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demselben" and "derselben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demselben vs derselbe". 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 #1,965,443 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.