DeutvsdewConfusable pair

Which to use

“Deut” and “dew” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,940
“Deut” frequency rank
#48,062
“dew” frequency rank
70002
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Deut dew
Definition gar nichts, gar nicht Niederschlag, durch Abkühlung (in Bodennähe) kondensierter Wasserdampf; Tau

Where the eye mixes Deut and dew

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Deut
3 ch
dew

Visual trap between Deut and dew

A purely visual mix-up. Deut ([dɔɪ̯t]) and dew ([djuː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70002, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Deut is recorded at frequency rank #21,940, classified as anoun, pronounced [dɔɪ̯t]. dew is at rank #48,062, tagged as anoun, pronounced [djuː].

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 70002, this pair ranks #459,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Deut vs dew

Shared letters: de. Private to "Deut": tu. Private to "dew": w.

"Deut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "dew" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Deutddeut · detu · edut

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Deut" for "dew" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([dɔɪ̯t] versus [djuː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Deut" or "dew" show up more?
"Deut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,940 in our German list, against #48,062 for "dew". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Deut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dew" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #459,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Deut" and "dew" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dew vs diet". 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 #459,457 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list