Which to use
“deren” is an unknown and “dürfen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #326
- “deren” frequency rank
- #517
- “dürfen” frequency rank
- 843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deren | dürfen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular des Pronomens die | die Erlaubnis haben, etwas zu tun |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set deren and dürfen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deren is [ˈdeːʁən] while dürfen is [ˈdʏʁfn̩]. 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 (unknown vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deren is recorded at frequency rank #326, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdeːʁən]. 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 843, this pair ranks #2,005,264 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deren vs dürfen
Shared letters: denr. Private to "deren": -. Private to "dürfen": fü.
"deren" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dürfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- deren ← dderen · deern · derenn · derne · derren · dreen · edren
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "deren" and "dürfen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "deren" or "dürfen"?
Remembering deren vs dürfen
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “deren”; for a verb, it's “dürfen”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “deren” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable