DingvsdunConfusable pair

Quick tell: Ding is a noun, dun is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ding” is a noun and “dun” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,351
“Ding” frequency rank
#37,461
“dun” frequency rank
38812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ding dun
Definition Gegenstand, dessen Eigenschaften nicht näher bezeichnet sind im Zustand nach Genuss von zu viel Alkohol

Where the eye mixes Ding and dun

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

4 ch
Ding
3 ch
dun

Look-alike desk: Ding vs dun

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ding is [dɪŋ] while dun is [duːn]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ding is recorded at frequency rank #1,351, classified as anoun, pronounced [dɪŋ]. dun is at rank #37,461, tagged as anadj, pronounced [duːn].

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 38812, this pair ranks #1,553,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ding vs dun

Shared letters: dn. Private to "Ding": gi. Private to "dun": u.

"Ding" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dingdding · dign · dingg · dinng · dnig · idng

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ding" and "dun" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ding" is a noun and "dun" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Ding" or "dun" show up more?
"Ding" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,351 in our German list, against #37,461 for "dun". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ding" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,553,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ding" and "dun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dun vs duran". 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 #1,553,974 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