DeppenvsderenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Deppen is a noun, deren is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Deppen” is a noun and “deren” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,040
“Deppen” frequency rank
#326
“deren” frequency rank
14366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Deppen deren
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Depp Genitiv Singular des Pronomens die

Where the eye mixes Deppen and deren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Deppen
5 ch
deren

Visual trap between Deppen and deren

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Deppen is [ˈdɛpn̩] while deren is [ˈdeːʁən]. 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 (noun vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Deppen is recorded at frequency rank #14,040, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛpn̩]. 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 14366, this pair ranks #1,951,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Deppen vs deren

Shared letters: den. Private to "Deppen": p. Private to "deren": r.

"Deppen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "deren" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Deppenddeppen · depen · depepn · deppenn · deppne · dpepen · edppen
  • derendderen · deern · derenn · derne · derren · dreen · edren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Deppen" for "deren" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Deppen" is a noun and "deren" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Deppen" or "deren"?
"deren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #326 in our German list, against #14,040 for "Deppen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Deppen" and "deren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Deppen" 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 #1,951,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Deppen" and "deren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Deppen vs deppert". 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 #1,951,695 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list