duftevsdünneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“dufte” and “dünne” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,433
“dufte” frequency rank
#9,353
“dünne” frequency rank
51786
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dufte dünne
Definition sehr gut Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dünn

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dufte and dünne apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dufte
5 ch
dünne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dufte ([ˈdʊftə]) and dünne ([ˈdʏnə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dufte is recorded at frequency rank #42,433, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊftə]. dünne is at rank #9,353, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʏnə].

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 51786, this pair ranks #1,122,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dufte vs dünne

Shared letters: de. Private to "dufte": ftu. Private to "dünne": .

"dufte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "dünne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dufteddufte · dfute · dufet · duffte · dutfe · udfte

Frequency comparison

dufte#42,433
dünne#9,353

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dufte" and "dünne" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊftə] versus [ˈdʏnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dufte" or "dünne"?
"dünne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,353 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.

Remembering dufte vs dünne

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dufte” 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