dicevsduckWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dice is a noun, duck is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dice” is a noun and “duck” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,101
“dice” frequency rank
#17,855
“duck” frequency rank
60956
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dice duck
Definition der Würfel (zum Beispiel der Käsewürfel) 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ducken

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dice and duck apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
dice
4 ch
duck

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dice is anoun and duckaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dice is recorded at frequency rank #43,101, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. duck is at rank #17,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [dʊk].

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 60956, this pair ranks #767,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dice vs duck

Shared letters: cd. Private to "dice": ei. Private to "duck": ku.

"dice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "duck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dicedcie · ddice · dicce · diec · idce
  • duckdcuk · dduck · ducck · duckk · dukc · udck

Frequency comparison

dice#43,101
duck#17,855

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dice" and "duck" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dice" is a noun and "duck" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dice" or "duck"?
"duck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,855 in our German list, against #43,101 for "dice". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dice vs duck

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dice”; for a verb, it's “duck”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dice” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list