DatesvsdudesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,798
“Dates” frequency rank
#48,830
“dudes” frequency rank
62628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dates dudes
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Date Plural des Substantivs dude

Where the eye mixes Dates and dudes

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

5 ch
Dates
5 ch
dudes

Look-alike desk: Dates vs dudes

A purely visual mix-up. Dates ([deɪt͡s]) and dudes ([duːt͡s]) 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 62628, 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]. dudes is at rank #48,830, tagged as anoun, pronounced [duːt͡s].

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 62628, this pair ranks #705,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Dates vs dudes

Shared letters: des. Private to "Dates": at. Private to "dudes": u.

"Dates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "dudes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Datesadtes · daets · datess · datse · dattes · ddates · dtaes
  • dudesddudes · ddues · duddes · dudess · dudse · dueds · uddes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Dates" for "dudes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([deɪt͡s] versus [duːt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Dates" vs "dudes" - which ranks higher?
"Dates" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,798 in our German list, against #48,830 for "dudes". 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 "Dates" and "dudes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dudes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #705,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dates" and "dudes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dudes vs Düne". 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 #705,871 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