Which to use
“dess” is an unknown and “dos” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,817
- “dess” frequency rank
- #14,542
- “dos” frequency rank
- 63359
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dess | dos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Utrum Singular Genitiv des Personalpronomens den | die Kardinalzahl zwischen eins und drei; zwei |
Where the eye mixes dess and dos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dess and dos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dess is [ˈdɛ̝sː] while dos is [dos]. 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 (unknown vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dess is recorded at frequency rank #48,817, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdɛ̝sː]. dos is at rank #14,542, tagged as anum, pronounced [dos].
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 63359, this pair ranks #679,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dess vs dos
Shared letters: ds. Private to "dess": e. Private to "dos": o.
"dess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dess ← ddess · deß · dses · edss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dess" for "dos" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dess" or "dos"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dess" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #679,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dess" and "dos" 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
Confusion rank #679,502 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.