Which to use
“derselbe” is a pronoun and “desselben” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,168
- “derselbe” frequency rank
- #7,453
- “desselben” frequency rank
- 16621
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | derselbe | desselben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bezeichnet die Identität mit einem vorausgegangenen oder bekannten Ding im Gegensatz zu einem anderen Ding derselben Art, für das "der gleiche" zu verwenden ist | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum des Demonstrativpronomens derselbe |
Where the eye mixes derselbe and desselben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. derselbe runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against desselben's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between derselbe and desselben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derselbe is [deːɐ̯ˈzɛlbə] while desselben is [dɛsˈzɛlbn̩]. 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 (pronoun vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
derselbe is recorded at frequency rank #9,168, classified as apron, pronounced [deːɐ̯ˈzɛlbə]. desselben is at rank #7,453, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [dɛsˈzɛlbn̩].
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 16621, this pair ranks #1,934,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of derselbe vs desselben
Shared letters: bdels. Private to "derselbe": r. Private to "desselben": n.
"derselbe" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "desselben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "derselbe" and "desselben" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "derselbe" vs "desselben" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "derselbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desselben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,934,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "derselbe" and "desselben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demselben vs derselbe". 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 #1,934,326 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.