Which to use
“denen” is an unknown and “derben” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #248
- “denen” frequency rank
- #42,416
- “derben” frequency rank
- 42664
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | denen | derben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Relativpronomens der | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs derb |
Where the eye mixes denen and derben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between denen and derben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: denen is [ˈdeːnən] while derben is [ˈdɛʁbn̩]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
denen is recorded at frequency rank #248, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdeːnən]. derben is at rank #42,416, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɛʁbn̩].
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 42664, this pair ranks #1,442,397 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of denen vs derben
Shared letters: den. Private to "denen": -. Private to "derben": br.
"denen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "derben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "denen" for "derben" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "denen" or "derben" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "denen" and "derben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "denen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,442,397 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "denen" and "derben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derben vs Dorfen". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,442,397 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.