Which to use
“denen” and “deren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #248
- “denen” frequency rank
- #326
- “deren” frequency rank
- 574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | denen | deren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Relativpronomens der | Genitiv Singular des Pronomens die |
Where the eye mixes denen and deren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: denen vs deren
A purely visual mix-up. denen ([ˈdeːnən]) and deren ([ˈdeːʁən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “denen” becomes r in “deren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
denen is recorded at frequency rank #248, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdeːnən]. deren is at rank #326, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdeːʁən].
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 574, this pair ranks #2,005,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of denen vs deren
Shared letters: den. Private to "denen": -. Private to "deren": r.
"denen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "deren" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "denen" for "deren" ever safe?
Frequency check: "denen" vs "deren" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "denen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "denen" and "deren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deren vs duran". 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 #2,005,666 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.