Which to use
“duften” is a verb and “dummen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,865
- “duften” frequency rank
- #7,032
- “dummen” frequency rank
- 52897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | duften | dummen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | angenehmen Geruch abgeben, verströmen, verbreiten | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dumm |
Where the eye mixes duften and dummen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. duften and dummen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between duften and dummen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: duften is [ˈdʊftn̩] while dummen is [ˈdʊmən]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
duften is recorded at frequency rank #45,865, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʊftn̩]. dummen is at rank #7,032, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊmən].
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 52897, this pair ranks #1,079,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of duften vs dummen
Shared letters: denu. Private to "duften": ft. Private to "dummen": m.
"duften" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "dummen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "duften" and "dummen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "duften" or "dummen"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "duften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dummen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,079,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "duften" and "dummen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duften vs Dukaten". 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 #1,079,022 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.