Which to use
“denselben” and “derselben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,781
- “denselben” frequency rank
- #4,336
- “derselben” frequency rank
- 11117
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | denselben | derselben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Akkusativ Singular des Demonstrativpronomens derselbe | Genitiv Plural des Demonstrativpronomens derselbe |
Where the eye mixes denselben and derselben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. denselben and derselben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses denselben with derselben
A purely visual mix-up. denselben ([deːnˈzɛlbn̩]) and derselben ([deːɐ̯ˈzɛlbn̩]) 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 “denselben” becomes r in “derselben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
denselben is recorded at frequency rank #6,781, classified as anunknown, pronounced [deːnˈzɛlbn̩]. derselben is at rank #4,336, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [deːɐ̯ˈzɛlbn̩].
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 11117, this pair ranks #1,971,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of denselben vs derselben
Shared letters: bdelns. Private to "denselben": -. Private to "derselben": r.
"denselben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "derselben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "denselben" and "derselben" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "denselben" vs "derselben" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "denselben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derselben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,971,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "denselben" and "derselben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denselben vs derselbe". 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 #1,971,611 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.