daivsdasWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: dai is a verb, das is a determiner, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dai” is a verb and “das” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,992
“dai” frequency rank
#5
“das” frequency rank
30997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dai das
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dare [1] Nominativ und Akkusativ Singular Neutrum des bestimmten Artikels der

Where the eye mixes dai and das

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
dai
3 ch
das

Visual trap between dai and das

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dai is [ˈdai] while das is [das]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “dai” becomes s in “das”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dai is recorded at frequency rank #30,992, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈdai]. das is at rank #5, tagged as adet, pronounced [das].

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 30997, this pair ranks #1,736,842 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dai vs das

Shared letters: ad. Private to "dai": i. Private to "das": s.

"dai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "das" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dai" and "das" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dai" is a verb and "das" a determiner, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dai" or "das"?
"das" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5 in our German list, against #30,992 for "dai". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "das" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,736,842 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dai" and "das" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dai vs duc". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,736,842 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