English homophones
der/duh
"der" (#5,491 written frequency) beats "duh" (#12,961) in this 2-word /dɜː/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /dɜː/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "der" leads at #5,491, with "duh" trailing at #12,961.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "der" is 3 letters, "duh" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across der, duh: d. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
der
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory der · private er
duh
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory dhu · private hu
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "der" when you mean: Disdainful indication that something is obvious.
- Write "duh" when you mean: A disdainful indication that something is obvious.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (der, duh). Here's where to go from here.
- "der" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #5,491 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: die · dye. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "der, duh" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.