DuettvsdufteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#21,576
“Duett” frequency rank
#42,433
“dufte” frequency rank
64009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Duett dufte
Definition Komposition mit zwei Stimmen sehr gut

Where the eye mixes Duett and dufte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Duett (CVVCC) and dufte (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Duett
5 ch
dufte

Why the eye confuses Duett with dufte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Duett is [duˈɛt] while dufte is [ˈdʊftə]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Duett is recorded at frequency rank #21,576, classified as anoun, pronounced [duˈɛt]. dufte is at rank #42,433, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊftə].

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 64009, this pair ranks #656,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Duett vs dufte

Shared letters: detu. Private to "Duett": -. Private to "dufte": f.

"Duett" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "dufte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Duett ← dduett · deutt · duet · dutet · udett
  • dufte ← ddufte · dfute · dufet · duffte · dutfe · udfte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Duett" and "dufte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Duett" is a noun and "dufte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Duett" vs "dufte" - which ranks higher?
"Duett" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,576 in our German list, against #42,433 for "dufte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Duett" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dufte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #656,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Duett" and "dufte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dufte vs Düne". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #656,574 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