Which to use
“durften” is a verb and “dürftig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,603
- “durften” frequency rank
- #28,613
- “dürftig” frequency rank
- 33216
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | durften | dürftig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs dürfen | materielle Armut bezeugend, ärmlich, karg |
Where the eye mixes durften and dürftig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between durften and dürftig
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: durften is [ˈdʊʁftn̩] while dürftig is [ˈdʏʁftɪç]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33216, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
durften is recorded at frequency rank #4,603, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdʊʁftn̩]. dürftig is at rank #28,613, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʏʁftɪç].
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 33216, this pair ranks #1,690,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of durften vs dürftig
Shared letters: dfrt. Private to "durften": enu. Private to "dürftig": giü.
"durften" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "dürftig" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- durften ← ddurften · druften · dufrten · durfetn · durfften · durftenn · durftne · durftten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "durften" for "dürftig" ever safe?
Which is more common, "durften" or "dürftig"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "durften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dürftig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,690,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "durften" and "dürftig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dürftig vs durstig". 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 #1,690,793 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.