dem
[deːm]
The verdict
“dem” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #22 in German word frequency and used as a determiner.
- #22
- frequency rank, German
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - [1] Dativ Singular des definiten Artikels der
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dem |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Determiner |
| IPA | [deːm] |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #22 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dem” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for dem is 3 letters long, classified as a determiner, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [deːm]. Corpus data places it at rank #22 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
dem has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "du", "do", "dm", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is dem, spelled D-E-M.
Definition
- 1[1] Dativ Singular des definiten Artikels der
- 2[2] Dativ Singular des definiten Artikels das
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “dem”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is D-E-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [deːm] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “du” - see the side-by-side comparison. dem vs du
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.