dünnervsdünnesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,580
“dünner” frequency rank
#29,092
“dünnes” frequency rank
42672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dünner dünnes
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs dünn Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dünn

Where the eye mixes dünner and dünnes

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

6 ch
dünner
6 ch
dünnes

Why the eye confuses dünner with dünnes

A purely visual mix-up. dünner ([ˈdʏnɐ]) and dünnes ([ˈdʏnəs]) 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 a single letter - r in “dünner” becomes s in “dünnes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dünner is recorded at frequency rank #13,580, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʏnɐ]. dünnes is at rank #29,092, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʏnəs].

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 42672, this pair ranks #1,442,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dünner vs dünnes

Shared letters: denü. Private to "dünner": r. Private to "dünnes": s.

"dünner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "dünnes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dünner" and "dünnes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʏnɐ] versus [ˈdʏnəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "dünner" or "dünnes" show up more?
"dünner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,580 in our German list, against #29,092 for "dünnes". 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 "dünner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dünnes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,442,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dünner" and "dünnes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dudes vs dünnes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,442,170 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