damalsvsDumasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: damals is a adverb, Dumas is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“damals” is an adverb and “Dumas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#439
“damals” frequency rank
#44,537
“Dumas” frequency rank
44976
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature damals Dumas
Definition referenziert einen zurückliegenden Zeitpunkt oder eine zurückliegende Zeitspanne Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Duma

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set damals and Dumas apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
damals
5 ch
Dumas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: damals is [ˈdaːmaːls] while Dumas is [ˈduːmas]. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

damals is recorded at frequency rank #439, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈdaːmaːls]. Dumas is at rank #44,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈduːmas].

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 44976, this pair ranks #1,368,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of damals vs Dumas

Shared letters: adms. Private to "damals": l. Private to "Dumas": u.

"damals" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Dumas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • damalsadmals · daamls · damalls · damalss · damasl · damlas · dammals · ddamals
  • Dumasddumas · dmuas · duams · dumass · dummas · dumsa · udmas

Frequency comparison

damals#439
Dumas#44,537

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "damals" and "Dumas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "damals" is an adverb and "Dumas" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "damals" or "Dumas"?
"damals" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #439 in our German list, against #44,537 for "Dumas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering damals vs Dumas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “damals”; for a noun, it's “Dumas”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “damals” 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