Which to use
“den” is an unknown and “doi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “den” frequency rank
- #42,427
- “doi” frequency rank
- 42437
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | doi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum des bestimmten Artikels der | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs doić |
Where the eye mixes den and doi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses den with doi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: den is [deːn] while doi is [ˈdɔji]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42437, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as anunknown, pronounced [deːn]. doi is at rank #42,427, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdɔji].
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 42437, this pair ranks #1,449,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of den vs doi
Shared letters: d. Private to "den": en. Private to "doi": io.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "doi" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "doi" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "den" or "doi" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "doi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,449,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "doi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doi vs dörr". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,449,289 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.