diezvsDirkTell them apart

Quick tell: diez is a num, Dirk is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“diez” is a num and “Dirk” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,000
“diez” frequency rank
#5,696
“Dirk” frequency rank
35696
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature diez Dirk
Definition zehn: Kardinalzahl zwischen 9 und 11 (meist dünnes) Seil, das von der Großbaumnock zum Masttop läuft und den Großbaum hochhält

Where the eye mixes diez and Dirk

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
diez
4 ch
Dirk

Visual trap between diez and Dirk

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: diez is [djeθ] while Dirk is [dɪʁk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

diez is recorded at frequency rank #30,000, classified as anum, pronounced [djeθ]. Dirk is at rank #5,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dɪʁk].

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 35696, this pair ranks #1,633,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of diez vs Dirk

Shared letters: di. Private to "diez": ez. Private to "Dirk": kr.

"diez" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Dirk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • diezddiez · deiz · diezz · dize · idez
  • Dirkddirk · dikr · dirkk · dirrk · drik · idrk

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "diez" for "Dirk" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "diez" is a num and "Dirk" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "diez" or "Dirk" show up more?
"Dirk" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,696 in our German list, against #30,000 for "diez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "diez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dirk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,633,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "diez" and "Dirk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "diet vs diez". 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 #1,633,783 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