duevsdukeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: due is a adjective, duke is a particle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#19,191
“due” frequency rank
#13,578
“duke” frequency rank
32769
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature due duke
Definition fällig -

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
due
4 ch
duke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

due and duke 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 32769, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

due is recorded at frequency rank #19,191, classified as anadj, pronounced [djuː]. duke is at rank #13,578, tagged as aparticle, pronounced […].

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 32769, this pair ranks #1,700,397 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

due#19,191
duke#13,578

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "due" and "duke" be used interchangeably?
No, "due" and "duke" 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 due vs duke

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “due”; for a particle, it's “duke”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “due” 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