Which to use
“den” is an unknown and “der” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “den” frequency rank
- #2
- “der” frequency rank
- 12
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | der |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum des bestimmten Artikels der | definiter Artikel (bestimmtes Geschlechtswort) |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set den and der apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
den and der form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - n in “den” becomes r in “der” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as anunknown, pronounced [deːn]. der is at rank #2, tagged as adet, pronounced [deːɐ̯].
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 12, this pair ranks #2,006,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "den" and "der" be used interchangeably?
Remembering den vs der
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “den”; for a determiner, it's “der”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “den” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable