Which to use
“denn” is a conjunction and “der” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #105
- “denn” frequency rank
- #2
- “der” frequency rank
- 107
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | denn | der |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | leitet einen Hauptsatz ein, der den Grund für das, was vorher festgestellt wurde, liefert | definiter Artikel (bestimmtes Geschlechtswort) |
Where the eye mixes denn and der
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: denn vs der
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: denn is [dɛn] while der is [deːɐ̯]. 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 (conjunction vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
denn is recorded at frequency rank #105, classified as aconj, pronounced [dɛn]. der is at rank #2, tagged as adet, pronounced [deːɐ̯].
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 107, this pair ranks #2,006,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of denn vs der
Shared letters: de. Private to "denn": n. Private to "der": r.
"denn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "der" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- denn ← ddenn · dnen · ednn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "denn" and "der" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "denn" vs "der" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "denn" and "der" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "denn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "der" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,006,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "denn" and "der" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denn vs dess". 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 #2,006,269 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.