Which to use
“dew” is a noun and “du” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,062
- “dew” frequency rank
- #38
- “du” frequency rank
- 48100
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dew | du |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Niederschlag, durch Abkühlung (in Bodennähe) kondensierter Wasserdampf; Tau | der Angesprochene oder Angeschriebene, falls nicht die Höflichkeitsform Sie verwendet wird |
Where the eye mixes dew and du
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between dew and du
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dew is [djuː] while du is [duː]. 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 (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dew is recorded at frequency rank #48,062, classified as anoun, pronounced [djuː]. du is at rank #38, tagged as apron, pronounced [duː].
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 48100, this pair ranks #1,260,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dew vs du
Shared letters: d. Private to "dew": ew. Private to "du": u.
"dew" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "du" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dew" and "du" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "dew" or "du" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dew" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "du" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,260,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dew" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dew vs diet". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,260,847 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.