dennvsdunWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: denn is a conjunction, dun is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“denn” is a conjunction and “dun” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#105
“denn” frequency rank
#37,461
“dun” frequency rank
37566
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature denn dun
Definition leitet einen Hauptsatz ein, der den Grund für das, was vorher festgestellt wurde, liefert im Zustand nach Genuss von zu viel Alkohol

Where the eye mixes denn and dun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
denn
3 ch
dun

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: denn is [dɛn] while dun is [duːn]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

denn is recorded at frequency rank #105, classified as aconj, pronounced [dɛn]. dun is at rank #37,461, tagged as anadj, pronounced [duːn].

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 37566, this pair ranks #1,586,853 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of denn vs dun

Shared letters: dn. Private to "denn": e. Private to "dun": u.

"denn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dennddenn · dnen · ednn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "denn" and "dun" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "denn" is a conjunction and "dun" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "denn" or "dun"?
"denn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #105 in our German list, against #37,461 for "dun". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "denn" and "dun". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "denn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,586,853 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "denn" and "dun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dun 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list