Which to use
“dufte” is an adjective and “dürfe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,433
- “dufte” frequency rank
- #7,900
- “dürfe” frequency rank
- 50333
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dufte | dürfe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sehr gut | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dürfen |
Where the eye mixes dufte and dürfe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dufte and dürfe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dufte is [ˈdʊftə] while dürfe is [ˈdʏʁfə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50333, 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]. dürfe is at rank #7,900, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʏʁfə].
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 50333, this pair ranks #1,177,703 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dufte vs dürfe
Shared letters: def. Private to "dufte": tu. Private to "dürfe": rü.
"dufte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dürfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dufte ← ddufte · dfute · dufet · duffte · dutfe · udfte
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dufte" and "dürfe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dufte" or "dürfe"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dufte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dürfe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,177,703 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dufte" and "dürfe" 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 #1,177,703 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.