Which to use
“durch” is a preposition and “durchs” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #67
- “durch” frequency rank
- #3,646
- “durchs” frequency rank
- 3713
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | durch | durchs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in etwas hinein und auf der anderen Seite wieder heraus (wobei oft der Teil dazwischen das Wichtige ist) | durch das |
Where the eye mixes durch and durchs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: durch vs durchs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: durch is [dʊʁç] while durchs is [dʊʁçs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “durch” sits inside “durchs”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
durch is recorded at frequency rank #67, classified as aprep, pronounced [dʊʁç]. durchs is at rank #3,646, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [dʊʁçs].
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 3713, this pair ranks #1,999,566 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of durch vs durchs
Shared letters: cdhru. Private to "durch": -. Private to "durchs": s.
"durch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "durchs" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "durch" and "durchs" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "durch" or "durchs" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "durch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durchs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,999,566 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "durch" and "durchs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "durchs vs dusch". 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 #1,999,566 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.