duchvsduckWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#48,829
“duch” frequency rank
#17,855
“duck” frequency rank
66684
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duch duck
Definition gedankliche, nicht körperliche Eigenschaften des Menschen: Geist 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ducken

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set duch and duck apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
duch
4 ch
duck

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: duch is [dʊx] while duck is [dʊk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “duch” becomes k in “duck”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duch is recorded at frequency rank #48,829, classified as anoun, pronounced [dʊx]. duck is at rank #17,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [dʊk].

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 66684, this pair ranks #564,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of duch vs duck

Shared letters: cdu. Private to "duch": h. Private to "duck": k.

"duch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "duck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duchdcuh · dduch · ducch · duchh · duhc · udch
  • duckdcuk · dduck · ducck · duckk · dukc · udck

Frequency comparison

duch#48,829
duck#17,855

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duch" and "duck" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "duch" is a noun and "duck" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "duch" or "duck"?
"duck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,855 in our German list, against #48,829 for "duch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering duch vs duck

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “duch”; for a verb, it's “duck”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “duch” 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