Which to use
“demselben” and “dieselben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,893
- “demselben” frequency rank
- #6,648
- “dieselben” frequency rank
- 14541
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demselben | dieselben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular Maskulinum des Demonstrativpronomens derselbe | Nominativ Plural des Demonstrativpronomens derselbe |
Where the eye mixes demselben and dieselben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. demselben (CVCCVCCVC) and dieselben (CVVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between demselben and dieselben
A purely visual mix-up. demselben ([deːmˈzɛlbn̩]) and dieselben ([diːˈzɛlbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14541, 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]. dieselben is at rank #6,648, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [diːˈzɛlbn̩].
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 14541, this pair ranks #1,950,479 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of demselben vs dieselben
Shared letters: bdelns. Private to "demselben": m. Private to "dieselben": i.
"demselben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "dieselben" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "demselben" and "dieselben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "demselben" or "dieselben"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "demselben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dieselben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,950,479 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demselben" and "dieselben" 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 #1,950,479 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.