dunklervsdunklerenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,004
“dunkler” frequency rank
#44,539
“dunkleren” frequency rank
53543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dunkler dunkleren
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs dunkel Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs dunkel

Where the eye mixes dunkler and dunkleren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
dunkler
9 ch
dunkleren

Visual trap between dunkler and dunkleren

A purely visual mix-up. dunkler ([ˈdʊŋklɐ]) and dunkleren ([ˈdʊŋkləʁən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “dunkler” sits inside “dunkleren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dunkler is recorded at frequency rank #9,004, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊŋklɐ]. dunkleren is at rank #44,539, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊŋkləʁən].

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 53543, this pair ranks #1,053,837 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dunkler vs dunkleren

Shared letters: deklnru. Private to "dunkler": -. Private to "dunkleren": -.

"dunkler" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "dunkleren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dunklerddunkler · dnukler · duknler · dunkelr · dunkkler · dunklerr · dunkller · dunklre
  • dunklerenddunkleren · dnukleren · duknleren · dunkelren · dunkkleren · dunkleern · dunklerenn · dunklerne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dunkler" and "dunkleren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊŋklɐ] versus [ˈdʊŋkləʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "dunkler" or "dunkleren" show up more?
"dunkler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,004 in our German list, against #44,539 for "dunkleren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "dunkler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dunkleren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,053,837 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dunkler" and "dunkleren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dunklere vs dunkleren". 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 #1,053,837 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