Which to use
“den” is an unknown and “die” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “den” frequency rank
- #1
- “die” frequency rank
- 11
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | die |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum des bestimmten Artikels der | weiblicher bestimmter Artikel im Nominativ und Akkusativ Singular |
Where the eye mixes den and die
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between den and die
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: den is [deːn] while die is [diː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as anunknown, pronounced [deːn]. die is at rank #1, tagged as adet, pronounced [diː].
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 11, this pair ranks #2,006,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of den vs die
Shared letters: de. Private to "den": n. Private to "die": i.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "die" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "die" ever safe?
Frequency check: "den" vs "die" - which ranks higher?
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 "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "die" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,006,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "die" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "den vs diet". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,006,356 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.