DatesvsDativWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,798
“Dates” frequency rank
#27,674
“Dativ” frequency rank
41472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dates Dativ
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Date Wem-Fall, (im Deutschen und Lateinischen) 3. Fall (Kasus)

Where the eye mixes Dates and Dativ

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

5 ch
Dates
5 ch
Dativ

Visual trap between Dates and Dativ

A purely visual mix-up. Dates ([deɪt͡s]) and Dativ ([ˈdaːtiːf]) 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 41472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dates is recorded at frequency rank #13,798, classified as anoun, pronounced [deɪt͡s]. Dativ is at rank #27,674, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdaːtiːf].

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 41472, this pair ranks #1,478,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Dates vs Dativ

Shared letters: adt. Private to "Dates": es. Private to "Dativ": iv.

"Dates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Dativ" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Datesadtes · daets · datess · datse · dattes · ddates · dtaes
  • Dativadtiv · daitv · dativv · dattiv · datvi · ddativ · dtaiv

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Dates" and "Dativ" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([deɪt͡s] versus [ˈdaːtiːf]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Dates" or "Dativ" show up more?
"Dates" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,798 in our German list, against #27,674 for "Dativ". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dativ" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,478,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dates" and "Dativ" 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 #1,478,338 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