Which to use
“das” is a determiner and “dess” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5
- “das” frequency rank
- #48,817
- “dess” frequency rank
- 48822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | das | dess |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | [1] Nominativ und Akkusativ Singular Neutrum des bestimmten Artikels der | 3. Person Utrum Singular Genitiv des Personalpronomens den |
Where the eye mixes das and dess
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: das is [das] while dess is [ˈdɛ̝sː]. 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 (determiner vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
das is recorded at frequency rank #5, classified as adet, pronounced [das]. dess is at rank #48,817, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdɛ̝sː].
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 48822, this pair ranks #1,234,343 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of das vs dess
Shared letters: ds. Private to "das": a. Private to "dess": e.
"das" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dess ← ddess · deß · dses · edss
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "das" and "dess" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "das" or "dess"?
What to do next
You've compared "das" and "dess". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "das" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dess" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,234,343 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "das" and "dess" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dess vs dew". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.