dürfevsDürreWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#7,900
“dürfe” frequency rank
#17,858
“Dürre” frequency rank
25758
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dürfe Dürre
Definition 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dürfen Periode des Wassermangels, die zu Schäden in der Landwirtschaft führt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dürfe and Dürre apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dürfe
5 ch
Dürre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dürfe is [ˈdʏʁfə] while Dürre is [ˈdʏʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - f in “dürfe” becomes r in “Dürre”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25758, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dürfe is recorded at frequency rank #7,900, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʏʁfə]. 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 25758, this pair ranks #1,828,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dürfe vs Dürre

Shared letters: derü. Private to "dürfe": f. Private to "Dürre": -.

"dürfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Dürre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

dürfe#7,900
Dürre#17,858

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dürfe" and "Dürre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dürfe" is a verb and "Dürre" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dürfe" or "Dürre"?
"dürfe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,900 in our German list, against #17,858 for "Dürre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dürfe vs Dürre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “dürfe”; for a noun, it's “Dürre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dürfe” 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