Which to use
“Dur” is a noun and “durch” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,455
- “Dur” frequency rank
- #67
- “durch” frequency rank
- 10522
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Dur | durch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tongeschlecht einer Klangverbindung, deren Charakteristikum eine große Terz im Verhältnis zum Grundton ist | in etwas hinein und auf der anderen Seite wieder heraus (wobei oft der Teil dazwischen das Wichtige ist) |
Where the eye mixes Dur and durch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Dur and durch
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dur is [duːɐ̯] while durch is [dʊʁç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Dur” sits inside “durch”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Dur is recorded at frequency rank #10,455, classified as anoun, pronounced [duːɐ̯]. durch is at rank #67, tagged as aprep, pronounced [dʊʁç].
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 10522, this pair ranks #1,974,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Dur vs durch
Shared letters: dru. Private to "Dur": -. Private to "durch": ch.
"Dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "durch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- durch ← ddurch · druch · ducrh · durcch · durchh · durhc · durrch · udrch
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Dur" for "durch" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Dur" or "durch"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Dur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,974,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Dur" and "durch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dur 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 #1,974,713 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.