Which to use
“dales” and “dates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,098
- “dales” frequency rank
- #2,783
- “dates” frequency rank
- 38881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dales | dates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of dale | plural of date |
Where the eye mixes dales and dates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dales vs dates
A purely visual mix-up. dales (/deɪlz/) and dates (/deɪts/) 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 a single letter - l in “dales” becomes t in “dates”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dales is recorded at frequency rank #36,098, classified as anoun, pronounced /deɪlz/. dates is at rank #2,783, tagged as anoun, pronounced /deɪts/.
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 38881, this pair ranks #281,849 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dales vs dates
Shared letters: ades. Private to "dales": l. Private to "dates": t.
"dales" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dales" and "dates" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "dales" or "dates" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "dales" and "dates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dales" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #281,849 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dales" and "dates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dales vs dikes". 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 #281,849 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.