dürfen
[ˈdʏʁfn̩]
The verdict
“dürfen” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #517. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #517
- frequency rank, German
- 45,632
- “D” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - die Erlaubnis haben, etwas zu tun
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 | dürfen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈdʏʁfn̩] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #517 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dürfen” sits in German frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around dürfen (IPA [ˈdʏʁfn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #517 among 45,632 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for dürfen, with forms such as "ddürfen", "drüfen", and "düfren". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dürft", "Dürre", "duzen", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is dürfen, spelled D-Ü-R-F-E-N.
Definition
- 1die Erlaubnis haben, etwas zu tun
- 2die Erlaubnis zu etwas haben
- 3bei Verwendung im Konjunktiv II kann eine Vermutung ausgedrückt werden
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddürfen
- drüfen
- düfren
- dürefn
- dürfenn
- dürffen
- dürfne
- dürrfen
- üdrfen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dürfen - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
How do you spell "dürfen"?
What does "dürfen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "dürfen"?
How do you pronounce "dürfen"?
What language does "dürfen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “dürfen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is D-Ü-R-F-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈdʏʁfn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “dürft” - see the side-by-side comparison. dürfen vs dürft
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Same frequency band
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.