DatevsdoveWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,717
“Date” frequency rank
#40,480
“dove” frequency rank
44197
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Date dove
Definition Verabredung, meistens von zwei Verliebten Exemplar der Tauben, Columbidae

Where the eye mixes Date and dove

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

4 ch
Date
4 ch
dove

Why the eye confuses Date with dove

A purely visual mix-up. Date ([dɛɪ̯t]) and dove ([dʌv]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44197, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Date is recorded at frequency rank #3,717, classified as anoun, pronounced [dɛɪ̯t]. dove is at rank #40,480, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dʌv].

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 44197, this pair ranks #1,393,867 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Date vs dove

Shared letters: de. Private to "Date": at. Private to "dove": ov.

"Date" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dove" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dateadte · daet · datte · ddate · dtae
  • doveddove · doev · dovve · dvoe · odve

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Date" for "dove" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([dɛɪ̯t] versus [dʌv]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Date" vs "dove" - which ranks higher?
"Date" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,717 in our German list, against #40,480 for "dove". 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 "Date" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dove" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,393,867 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Date" and "dove" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dörr vs dove". 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 #1,393,867 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