Which to use
“de” is a noun and “dur” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #582
- “de” frequency rank
- #39,793
- “dur” frequency rank
- 40375
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | de | dur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The name of the Cyrillic script letter Д / д. | Major; in the major mode. |
Where the eye mixes de and dur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: de vs dur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: de is /ˈdɛ/ while dur is /duːɹ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
de is recorded at frequency rank #582, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɛ/. dur is at rank #39,793, tagged as anadj, pronounced /duːɹ/.
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 40375, this pair ranks #268,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of de vs dur
Shared letters: d. Private to "de": e. Private to "dur": ru.
"de" · 2 letters · shape CV · "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "de" and "dur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "de" or "dur"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "de" and "dur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "de" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #268,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "de" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dox vs dur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #268,168 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.