durftevsdürftestWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,200
“durfte” frequency rank
#48,083
“dürftest” frequency rank
50283
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature durfte dürftest
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs dürfen 2. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs dürfen

Where the eye mixes durfte and dürftest

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
durfte
8 ch
dürftest

Look-alike desk: durfte vs dürftest

A purely visual mix-up. durfte ([ˈdʊʁftə]) and dürftest ([ˈdʏʁftəst]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

durfte is recorded at frequency rank #2,200, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʊʁftə]. dürftest is at rank #48,083, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdʏʁftəst].

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 50283, this pair ranks #1,179,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of durfte vs dürftest

Shared letters: defrt. Private to "durfte": u. Private to "dürftest": .

"durfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "dürftest" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • durfteddurfte · drufte · dufrte · durfet · durffte · durftte · durrfte · durtfe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "durfte" for "dürftest" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊʁftə] versus [ˈdʏʁftəst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "durfte" vs "dürftest" - which ranks higher?
"durfte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,200 in our German list, against #48,083 for "dürftest". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "durfte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dürftest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,179,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "durfte" and "dürftest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dorffest vs dürftest". 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 #1,179,550 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list