Which to use
“derben” is an adjective and “dürfen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,416
- “derben” frequency rank
- #517
- “dürfen” frequency rank
- 42933
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | derben | dürfen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs derb | die Erlaubnis haben, etwas zu tun |
Where the eye mixes derben and dürfen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between derben and dürfen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derben is [ˈdɛʁbn̩] while dürfen is [ˈdʏʁfn̩]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42933, 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]. dürfen is at rank #517, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʏʁfn̩].
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 42933, this pair ranks #1,433,837 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of derben vs dürfen
Shared letters: denr. Private to "derben": b. Private to "dürfen": fü.
"derben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "dürfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- derben ← dderben · debren · derbben · derbenn · derbne · derebn · derrben · dreben
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "derben" for "dürfen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "derben" or "dürfen" 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 "dürfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,433,837 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "derben" and "dürfen" 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 #1,433,837 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.