Which to use
“derben” is an adjective and “drüben” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,416
- “derben” frequency rank
- #7,898
- “drüben” frequency rank
- 50314
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | derben | drüben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs derb | auf der anderen Seite |
Where the eye mixes derben and drüben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses derben with drüben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derben is [ˈdɛʁbn̩] while drüben is [ˈdʁyːbn̩]. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
derben is recorded at frequency rank #42,416, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɛʁbn̩]. drüben is at rank #7,898, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈdʁyːbn̩].
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 50314, this pair ranks #1,178,384 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of derben vs drüben
Shared letters: bdenr. Private to "derben": -. Private to "drüben": ü.
"derben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "drüben" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- derben ← dderben · debren · derbben · derbenn · derbne · derebn · derrben · dreben
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "derben" for "drüben" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "derben" or "drüben" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "derben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drüben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,178,384 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "derben" and "drüben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derben vs Dorfen". 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 #1,178,384 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.