DumasvsdummeConfusable pair

Quick tell: Dumas is a noun, dumme is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#44,537
“Dumas” frequency rank
#3,804
“dumme” frequency rank
48341
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dumas dumme
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Duma Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs dumm

Where the eye mixes Dumas and dumme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Dumas (CVCVC) and dumme (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Dumas
5 ch
dumme

Why the eye confuses Dumas with dumme

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dumas is [ˈduːmas] while dumme is [ˈdʊmə]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dumas is recorded at frequency rank #44,537, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈduːmas]. dumme is at rank #3,804, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊmə].

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 48341, this pair ranks #1,252,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Dumas vs dumme

Shared letters: dmu. Private to "Dumas": as. Private to "dumme": e.

"Dumas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "dumme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dumas ← ddumas · dmuas · duams · dumass · dummas · dumsa · udmas
  • dumme ← ddumme · dmume · dume · dumem · udmme

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Dumas" and "dumme" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Dumas" is a noun and "dumme" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Dumas" vs "dumme" - which ranks higher?
"dumme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,804 in our German list, against #44,537 for "Dumas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Dumas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dumme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,252,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dumas" and "dumme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dumas vs duran". 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 #1,252,084 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list