dogvsdowConfusable pair

Quick tell: dog is a noun, dow is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dog” is a noun and “dow” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,051
“dog” frequency rank
#19,541
“dow” frequency rank
31592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dog dow
Definition fleischfressendes Säugetier der Gattung Canis sehr schwerhörig oder gehörlos

Letter map: dog vs dow

Shared letters muted; letters that set dog and dow apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
dog
3 ch
dow

Grammar separator: dog vs dow

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dog is anoun and dowanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - g in “dog” becomes w in “dow”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dog is recorded at frequency rank #12,051, classified as anoun, pronounced [dɒɡ]. dow is at rank #19,541, tagged as anadj.

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 31592, this pair ranks #1,725,011 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dog vs dow

Shared letters: do. Private to "dog": g. Private to "dow": w.

"dog" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dow" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dog" and "dow" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dog" is a noun and "dow" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "dog" or "dow" show up more?
"dog" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,051 in our German list, against #19,541 for "dow". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "dog" vs "dow" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dog" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,725,011 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dog" and "dow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dörr vs dow". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,725,011 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