DamevsDatesConfusable pair

Which to use

“Dame” and “Dates” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,198
“Dame” frequency rank
#13,798
“Dates” frequency rank
15996
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dame Dates
Definition Frau Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Date

Where the eye mixes Dame and Dates

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Dame
5 ch
Dates

Look-alike desk: Dame vs Dates

A purely visual mix-up. Dame ([ˈdaːmə]) and Dates ([deɪt͡s]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dame is recorded at frequency rank #2,198, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdaːmə]. Dates is at rank #13,798, tagged as anoun, pronounced [deɪt͡s].

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 15996, this pair ranks #1,939,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Dame vs Dates

Shared letters: ade. Private to "Dame": m. Private to "Dates": st.

"Dame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Dates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dameadme · daem · damme · ddame · dmae
  • Datesadtes · daets · datess · datse · dattes · ddates · dtaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Dame" and "Dates" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdaːmə] versus [deɪt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Dame" or "Dates"?
"Dame" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,198 in our German list, against #13,798 for "Dates". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Dame" and "Dates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,939,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dame" and "Dates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dates vs dudes". 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 #1,939,486 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