derbevsDürreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: derbe is a adjective, Dürre is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“derbe” is an adjective and “Dürre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,213
“derbe” frequency rank
#17,858
“Dürre” frequency rank
38071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature derbe Dürre
Definition sehr gut, nicht schlecht Periode des Wassermangels, die zu Schäden in der Landwirtschaft führt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set derbe and Dürre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
derbe
5 ch
Dürre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derbe is [ˈdɛʁbə] while Dürre is [ˈdʏʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

derbe is recorded at frequency rank #20,213, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɛʁbə]. Dürre is at rank #17,858, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdʏʁə].

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 38071, this pair ranks #1,573,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of derbe vs Dürre

Shared letters: der. Private to "derbe": b. Private to "Dürre": ü.

"derbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Dürre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • derbedderbe · debre · derbbe · dereb · derrbe · drebe · edrbe

Frequency comparison

derbe#20,213
Dürre#17,858

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "derbe" and "Dürre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "derbe" is an adjective and "Dürre" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "derbe" or "Dürre"?
"Dürre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,858 in our German list, against #20,213 for "derbe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering derbe vs Dürre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “derbe”; for a noun, it's “Dürre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “derbe” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list