damvsdavyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dam is a abbrev, davy is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dam” is an abbrev and “davy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,288
“dam” frequency rank
#45,844
“davy” frequency rank
70132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dam davy
Definition Dekameter Nominativ Plural des Substantivs dav

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dam and davy apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
dam
4 ch
davy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dam is anabbrev and davyanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dam is recorded at frequency rank #24,288, classified as anabbrev. davy is at rank #45,844, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdavɪ].

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 70132, this pair ranks #455,571 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dam vs davy

Shared letters: ad. Private to "dam": m. Private to "davy": vy.

"dam" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "davy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • davyadvy · davvy · davyy · dayv · ddavy · dvay

Frequency comparison

dam#24,288
davy#45,844

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dam" and "davy" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dam" is an abbrev and "davy" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dam" or "davy"?
"dam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,288 in our German list, against #45,844 for "davy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dam vs davy

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an abbrev, it's “dam”; for a noun, it's “davy”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dam” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list