Duden dictionary

Learn to use the Duden dictionary for German hyphenation and spell checking in InDesign.

Duden is integrated natively into InDesign. You can use the Duden dictionary for language guidance for German speakers and learners.

Manage Duden dictionary

  1. To use the Duden dictionary in InDesign to work with the German language, select:

    • (Windows) Edit > Preferences > Dictionary
    • (macOS) InDesign > Preferences > Dictionary 

    Ensure to select Show Hyphenation Options to see the Duden hyphenation options.

    Select the option of Duden dictionary to work with german language
    Select options to work with Duden dictionary

  2. Select a language from the Language drop-down menu.

  3. Select Duden from the Hyphenation and Spelling drop-down menu.

Hyphenation

Hyphenation in a dictionary helps by correctly dividing words into syllables, which helps in proper pronunciation and understanding of word structure.

Duden hyphenation styles

Duden offers four different hyphenation styles for German words. When you create a new paragraph style, select any one of the four styles. To select the hyphenation, go to Paragraph Style Options > Hyphenation > Style.

Hyphenation options
Select any of the styles from Hyphenation in Duden dictionary

All

This allows all hyphenations that are technically correct and that doesn’t go against the spelling rules. For example, both Ur-ins-tinkt and Ur-in-s-tinkt are correct.

All but unaesthetic

This allows all hyphenations, except unaesthetic hyphenations where the sense of the word might be distorted. For example, Ur-ins-tinkt is allowed but Ur-in-s-tinkt is not allowed.

Aesthetic

Only hyphenation defined as aesthetic is applied. For example, Auto-bahn but not Au-tobahn.

Preferred Aesthetic

Besides words with defined aesthetic hyphenation, longer words (minimum six characters), for which no aesthetic hyphenation has been defined, are also hyphenated. For example, Napoleon is hyphenated as Na-po-leon although it has no aesthetic hyphenation defined.

Some examples of Duden hyphenation styles

Hyphenation style

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

All

Ur-in-s-tinkt

Erd-beer-mar-me-la-de

Na-po-le-on

kri-tisch

be-in-hal-ten

All but unaesthetic

Ur-ins-tinkt

Erd-beer-mar-me-la-de

Na-po-leon

kri-tisch

be-inhal-ten

Aesthetic

Ur-instinkt

Erd-beer-marmelade

Napoleon

kritisch

be-inhalten

Preferred Aesthetic

Ur-instinkt

Erd-beer-marmelade

Na-po-leon

kri-tisch

be-inhalten

Spell-check

Spell check in a dictionary helps to identify and correct spelling errors in written text.

Duden spell-check styles

The German language allows several spelling variants for a large number of words, such as Delphin vs. Delfin or Graphik vs. Grafik.

There are four spell-check styles available. To select the spell-check style, Preferences > Dictionary > Spelling.

Spelling options while using Duden dictionary
Select one of the options for spell-checking in Duden dictionary

Duden

Only the correct variation recommended by Duden is accepted. Other variants are marked as errors.

Conservative

Accept only old spelling variants like Delphin but not Delfin. Similarly, Graphik is accepted but not Grafik (ph instead of f).

Press Agencies

Same as Duden but with a different rule set agreed by multiple press agencies and publishing houses.

Tolerant

Accept any valid spelling. For example, both Graphik and Grafik are correct. Similarly, both Delphin and Delfin are correct.

Some examples of spell-check

Spell-check style

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

Duden

Geograf is correct, Geograph is incorrect

Joghurt is correct, Jogurt is incorrect

Fotosynthese is correct, Photosynthese is incorrect

Motocross is correct, Moto-Cross is incorrect

Fundraising is correct, Fund-Raising is incorrect

Conservative

Geograph is correct, Geograf is incorrect

Joghurt is correct, Jogurt is incorrect

Photosynthese is correct, Fotosynthese is incorrect

Moto-Cross is correct, Motocross is incorrect

Fund-Raising is correct, Fundraising is incorrect

Press Agencies

Geograf is correct, Geograph is incorrect

Joghurt is correct, Jogurt is incorrect

Photosynthese is correct, Fotosynthese is incorrect

Moto-Cross is correct, Motocross is incorrect

Fundraising is correct, Fund-Raising is incorrect

Tolerant

both are correct

both are correct

both are correct

both are correct

both are correct

Scripting

To set Duden spelling vendors using scripting, use the following German names for the spell-check styles:

  • Duden
  • Duden: Konservativ
  • Duden: Presse
  • Duden: Tolerant

More like this

Talk to us

We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts with the Adobe InDesign Community

Získajte pomoc rýchlejšie a ľahšie

Nový užívateľ?