dem vs dz, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“dem” is a determiner and “dz” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22
“dem” frequency rank: #17,857
“dz” frequency rank: 17879
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dem	dz
Definition	[1] Dativ Singular des definiten Artikels der	Digraph in der polnischen Sprache

Where the eye mixes dem and dz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

dem

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dem is [deːm] while dz is [d͡zɛ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dem is recorded at frequency rank #22, classified as adet, pronounced [deːm]. dz is at rank #17,857, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d͡zɛ].

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 17879, this pair ranks #1,923,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dem vs dz

Shared letters: d. Private to "dem": em. Private to "dz": z.

"dem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dz" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dem" and "dz" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dem" is a determiner and "dz" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "dem" or "dz"?

"dem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22 in our German list, against #17,857 for "dz". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "dem" and "dz". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "dem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "dz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,923,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"dem" and "dz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duc vs dz". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.