Which to use
“dürft” and “durfte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,457
- “dürft” frequency rank
- #2,200
- “durfte” frequency rank
- 12657
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dürft | durfte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dürfen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs dürfen |
Where the eye mixes dürft and durfte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dürft and durfte
A purely visual mix-up. dürft ([dʏʁft]) and durfte ([ˈdʊʁftə]) 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 12657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dürft is recorded at frequency rank #10,457, classified as averb, pronounced [dʏʁft]. durfte is at rank #2,200, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʊʁftə].
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 12657, this pair ranks #1,962,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dürft vs durfte
Shared letters: dfrt. Private to "dürft": ü. Private to "durfte": eu.
"dürft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "durfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- durfte ← ddurfte · drufte · dufrte · durfet · durffte · durftte · durrfte · durtfe
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dürft" and "durfte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "dürft" or "durfte" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dürft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durfte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,962,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dürft" and "durfte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duran vs dürft". 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 #1,962,849 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.