dorvsduWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dor is a verb, du is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dor” is a verb and “du” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,140
“dor” frequency rank
#38
“du” frequency rank
35178
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dor du
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dare der Angesprochene oder Angeschriebene, falls nicht die Höflichkeitsform Sie verwendet wird

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dor and du apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
dor
2 ch
du

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

dor and du form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dor is recorded at frequency rank #35,140, classified as averb, pronounced […]. 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 35178, this pair ranks #1,646,135 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

dor#35,140
du#38

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dor" and "du" be used interchangeably?
No, "dor" and "du" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering dor vs du

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “dor”; for a pronoun, it's “du”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dor” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list