dummevsdummenConfusable pair

Which to use

“dumme” and “dummen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,804
“dumme” frequency rank
#7,032
“dummen” frequency rank
10836
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dumme dummen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs dumm Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dumm

Where the eye mixes dumme and dummen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
dumme
6 ch
dummen

Why the eye confuses dumme with dummen

A purely visual mix-up. dumme ([ˈdʊmə]) and dummen ([ˈdʊmən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dumme” sits inside “dummen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dumme is recorded at frequency rank #3,804, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊmə]. 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 10836, this pair ranks #1,973,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dumme vs dummen

Shared letters: demu. Private to "dumme": -. Private to "dummen": n.

"dumme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "dummen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dummeddumme · dmume · dume · dumem · udmme
  • dummenddummen · dmumen · dumemn · dumen · dummenn · dummne · udmmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dumme" for "dummen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊmə] versus [ˈdʊmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dumme" or "dummen"?
"dumme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,804 in our German list, against #7,032 for "dummen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dumme" 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 #1,973,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dumme" and "dummen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dummen vs Dummies". 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 #1,973,075 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