diezvsdissTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#30,000
“diez” frequency rank
#11,410
“diss” frequency rank
41410
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature diez diss
Definition zehn: Kardinalzahl zwischen 9 und 11 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs dissen

Where the eye mixes diez and diss

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

4 ch
diez
4 ch
diss

Visual trap between diez and diss

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: diez is [djeθ] while diss is [dɪs]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41410, 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]. diss is at rank #11,410, tagged as averb, pronounced [dɪs].

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 41410, this pair ranks #1,480,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of diez vs diss

Shared letters: di. Private to "diez": ez. Private to "diss": s.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • diezddiez · deiz · diezz · dize · idez
  • dissddiss · dis · diß · dsis · idss

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "diez" and "diss" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "diez" is a num and "diss" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "diez" or "diss" show up more?
"diss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,410 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "diez" and "diss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "diez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "diss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,480,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "diez" and "diss" 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 #1,480,287 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