Which to use
“den” is an unknown and “don” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “den” frequency rank
- #3,645
- “don” frequency rank
- 3655
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | don |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum des bestimmten Artikels der | Spende, Gabe |
Where the eye mixes den and don
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses den with don
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: den is [deːn] while don is [dɔ̃]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “den” becomes o in “don”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as anunknown, pronounced [deːn]. don is at rank #3,645, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dɔ̃].
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 3655, this pair ranks #1,999,697 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of den vs don
Shared letters: dn. Private to "den": e. Private to "don": o.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "don" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "don" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "den" or "don" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "don" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,999,697 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "don" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "don vs dörr". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,999,697 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.