Which to use
“des” is a determiner and “duc” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23
- “des” frequency rank
- #48,075
- “duc” frequency rank
- 48098
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | des | duc |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | [1] Genitiv Singular von der und das | der Herzog, der Führer |
Where the eye mixes des and duc
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: des is [dɛs] while duc is [duk]. 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 (determiner vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
des is recorded at frequency rank #23, classified as adet, pronounced [dɛs]. duc is at rank #48,075, tagged as anoun, pronounced [duk].
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 48098, this pair ranks #1,260,906 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of des vs duc
Shared letters: d. Private to "des": es. Private to "duc": cu.
"des" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "duc" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "des" and "duc" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "des" or "duc"?
What to do next
You've compared "des" and "duc". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "des" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,260,906 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "des" and "duc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duc vs dusch". Nearby pair
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.