dürfen vs dürft, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#517
“dürfen” frequency rank: #10,457
“dürft” frequency rank: 10974
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dürfen	dürft
Definition	die Erlaubnis haben, etwas zu tun	2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dürfen

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

dürfen

5 ch

dürft

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dürfen ([ˈdʏʁfn̩]) and dürft ([dʏʁft]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dürfen is recorded at frequency rank #517, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʏʁfn̩]. dürft is at rank #10,457, tagged as averb, pronounced [dʏʁft].

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 10974, this pair ranks #1,972,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dürfen vs dürft

Shared letters: dfrü. Private to "dürfen": en. Private to "dürft": t.

"dürfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "dürft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequency comparison

dürfen#517

dürft#10,457

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dürfen" and "dürft" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ˈdʏʁfn̩] versus [dʏʁft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "dürfen" or "dürft"?

"dürfen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #517 in our German list, against #10,457 for "dürft". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering dürfen vs dürft

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dürfen” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable