dewvsDusConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,062
“dew” frequency rank
#19,874
“Dus” frequency rank
67936
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dew Dus
Definition Niederschlag, durch Abkühlung (in Bodennähe) kondensierter Wasserdampf; Tau Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Du

Where the eye mixes dew and Dus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. dew and Dus follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
dew
3 ch
Dus

Why the eye confuses dew with Dus

A purely visual mix-up. dew ([djuː]) and Dus ([duːs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67936, 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]. Dus is at rank #19,874, tagged as anoun, pronounced [duːs].

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 67936, this pair ranks #523,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dew vs Dus

Shared letters: d. Private to "dew": ew. Private to "Dus": su.

"dew" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Dus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dew" and "Dus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([djuː] versus [duːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dew" vs "Dus" - which ranks higher?
"Dus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,874 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

Eye-level mix-up between "dew" and "Dus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dew" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #523,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dew" and "Dus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dew vs diet". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #523,955 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