Which to use
“den” and “du” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,639
- “den” frequency rank
- #17
- “du” frequency rank
- 9656
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | du |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Accusatif masculin singulier de der. | Une quantité indéfinie de. Note d’usage : Utilisé avec un nom indénombrable. |
Where the eye mixes den and du
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses den with du
A purely visual mix-up. den (\deːn\) and du (\dy\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9656, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #9,639, classified as anarticle, pronounced \deːn\. du is at rank #17, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \dy\.
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 9656, this pair ranks #415,887 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of den vs du
Shared letters: d. Private to "den": en. Private to "du": u.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "du" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "du" ever safe?
Which is more common, "den" or "du"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "den" and "du" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "du" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #415,887 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "den vs denim". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #415,887 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.