duftevsdürfeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dufte is a adjective, dürfe is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

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

5 ch
dufte
5 ch
dürfe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

dufte and dürfe form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. 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.

Frequency comparison

dufte#42,433
dürfe#7,900

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dufte" and "dürfe" be used interchangeably?
No, "dufte" and "dürfe" 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 dufte vs dürfe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dufte”; for a verb, it's “dürfe”.
  • 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