dünnvsDusTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#5,934
“dünn” frequency rank
#19,874
“Dus” frequency rank
25808
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dünn Dus
Definition von geringer Dicke Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Du

Where the eye mixes dünn and Dus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. dünn runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Dus's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
dünn
3 ch
Dus

Why the eye confuses dünn with Dus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dünn is [dʏn] while Dus is [duːs]. 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 25808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dünn is recorded at frequency rank #5,934, classified as anadj, pronounced [dʏn]. Dus is at rank #19,874, tagged as anoun, pronounced [duːs].

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 25808, this pair ranks #1,827,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dünn vs Dus

Shared letters: d. Private to "dünn": nü. Private to "Dus": su.

"dünn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Dus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dünn" for "Dus" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dünn" is an adjective and "Dus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "dünn" vs "Dus" - which ranks higher?
"dünn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,934 in our German list, against #19,874 for "Dus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dünn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,827,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dünn" and "Dus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dus vs dusch". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,827,675 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