ducvsdueWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#48,075
“duc” frequency rank
#19,191
“due” frequency rank
67266
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duc due
Definition der Herzog, der Führer fällig

Where the eye mixes duc and due

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

3 ch
duc
3 ch
due

Look-alike desk: duc vs due

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: duc is [duk] while due is [djuː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “duc” becomes e in “due”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duc is recorded at frequency rank #48,075, classified as anoun, pronounced [duk]. due is at rank #19,191, tagged as anadj, pronounced [djuː].

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 67266, this pair ranks #545,769 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of duc vs due

Shared letters: du. Private to "duc": c. Private to "due": e.

"duc" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "due" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "duc" and "due" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "duc" is a noun and "due" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "duc" vs "due" - which ranks higher?
"due" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,191 in our German list, against #48,075 for "duc". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "duc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "due" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #545,769 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "duc" and "due" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duc vs dusch". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #545,769 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