durchvsDürreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: durch is a preposition, Dürre is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“durch” is a preposition and “Dürre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#67
“durch” frequency rank
#17,858
“Dürre” frequency rank
17925
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature durch Dürre
Definition in etwas hinein und auf der anderen Seite wieder heraus (wobei oft der Teil dazwischen das Wichtige ist) Periode des Wassermangels, die zu Schäden in der Landwirtschaft führt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set durch and Dürre apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
durch
5 ch
Dürre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: durch is [dʊʁç] while Dürre is [ˈdʏʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17925, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

durch is recorded at frequency rank #67, classified as aprep, pronounced [dʊʁç]. Dürre is at rank #17,858, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdʏʁə].

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 17925, this pair ranks #1,923,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of durch vs Dürre

Shared letters: dr. Private to "durch": chu. Private to "Dürre": .

"durch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Dürre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • durchddurch · druch · ducrh · durcch · durchh · durhc · durrch · udrch

Frequency comparison

durch#67
Dürre#17,858

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "durch" and "Dürre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "durch" is a preposition and "Dürre" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "durch" or "Dürre"?
"durch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #67 in our German list, against #17,858 for "Dürre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering durch vs Dürre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “durch”; for a noun, it's “Dürre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “durch” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list