DahmevsDateTell them apart

Quick tell: Dahme is a name, Date is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Dahme” is a name and “Date” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,991
“Dahme” frequency rank
#3,717
“Date” frequency rank
34708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dahme Date
Definition ein Fluss in Deutschland, Nebenfluss der Spree Verabredung, meistens von zwei Verliebten

Where the eye mixes Dahme and Date

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Dahme runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Date's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Dahme
4 ch
Date

Why the eye confuses Dahme with Date

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dahme is [ˈdaːmə] while Date is [dɛɪ̯t]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dahme is recorded at frequency rank #30,991, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈdaːmə]. Date is at rank #3,717, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dɛɪ̯t].

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 34708, this pair ranks #1,657,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Dahme vs Date

Shared letters: ade. Private to "Dahme": hm. Private to "Date": t.

"Dahme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Date" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dahme ← adhme · dahem · dahhme · dahmme · damhe · ddahme · dhame
  • Date ← adte · daet · datte · ddate · dtae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Dahme" for "Date" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Dahme" is a name and "Date" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Dahme" or "Date" show up more?
"Date" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,717 in our German list, against #30,991 for "Dahme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dahme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Date" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,657,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dahme" and "Date" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dahme vs dare". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,657,174 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list