duftevsdutyWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,433
“dufte” frequency rank
#21,948
“duty” frequency rank
64381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dufte duty
Definition sehr gut die moralische oder gesetzliche Pflicht

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
dufte
4 ch
duty

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dufte is [ˈdʊftə] while duty is [ˈdjuːti]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64381, 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]. duty is at rank #21,948, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdjuːti].

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 64381, this pair ranks #643,637 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dufte vs duty

Shared letters: dtu. Private to "dufte": ef. Private to "duty": y.

"dufte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "duty" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dufteddufte · dfute · dufet · duffte · dutfe · udfte
  • dutydduty · dtuy · dutty · dutyy · duyt · udty

Frequency comparison

dufte#42,433
duty#21,948

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dufte" and "duty" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dufte" is an adjective and "duty" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dufte" or "duty"?
"duty" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,948 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 duty

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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