diesvsdieserWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#219
“dies” frequency rank
#94
“dieser” frequency rank
313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dies dieser
Definition adverbialer Gebrauch, um ein ganz bestimmtes, nahe liegendes Nomen hervorzuheben attributiver Gebrauch, um ein ganz bestimmtes, nahe liegendes Nomen hervorzuheben

Where the eye mixes dies and dieser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
dies
6 ch
dieser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dies ([diːs]) and dieser ([ˈdiːzɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dies” sits inside “dieser”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dies is recorded at frequency rank #219, classified as apron, pronounced [diːs]. dieser is at rank #94, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈdiːzɐ].

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 313, this pair ranks #2,006,011 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dies vs dieser

Shared letters: deis. Private to "dies": -. Private to "dieser": r.

"dies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "dieser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • diesddies · deis · diess · dise · ides
  • dieserddieser · deiser · dieesr · dieserr · diesre · diesser · diseer · ideser

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dies" and "dieser" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([diːs] versus [ˈdiːzɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dies" or "dieser"?
"dieser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #94 in our German list, against #219 for "dies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "dies" and "dieser". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dieser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,006,011 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dies" and "dieser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dies 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

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list