doivsDusTell them apart

Quick tell: doi is a verb, Dus is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“doi” is a verb and “Dus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,427
“doi” frequency rank
#19,874
“Dus” frequency rank
62301
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doi Dus
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs doić Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Du

Where the eye mixes doi and Dus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
doi
3 ch
Dus

Why the eye confuses doi with Dus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: doi is [ˈdɔji] while Dus is [duːs]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

doi is recorded at frequency rank #42,427, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdɔji]. 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 62301, this pair ranks #717,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of doi vs Dus

Shared letters: d. Private to "doi": io. Private to "Dus": su.

"doi" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "Dus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "doi" and "Dus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "doi" is a verb and "Dus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "doi" or "Dus"?
"Dus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,874 in our German list, against #42,427 for "doi". 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 "doi" and "Dus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "doi" 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 #717,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "doi" and "Dus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doi vs dörr". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #717,945 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