Which to use
“den” is an unknown and “du” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10
- “den” frequency rank
- #38
- “du” frequency rank
- 48
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | du |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum des bestimmten Artikels der | der Angesprochene oder Angeschriebene, falls nicht die Höflichkeitsform Sie verwendet wird |
Where the eye mixes den and du
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses den with du
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: den is [deːn] while du is [duː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #10, classified as anunknown, pronounced [deːn]. du is at rank #38, tagged as apron, pronounced [duː].
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 48, this pair ranks #2,006,328 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of den vs du
Shared letters: d. Private to "den": en. Private to "du": u.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "du" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "du" ever safe?
Which is more common, "den" or "du"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "den" and "du" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "du" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,006,328 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "du vs duch". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,006,328 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.