DansvsdisWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Dans is a name, dis is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Dans” is a name and “dis” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,570
“Dans” frequency rank
#10,679
“dis” frequency rank
30249
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dans dis
Definition A surname. Alternative spelling of diss.

Letter map: Dans vs dis

Shared letters muted; letters that set Dans and dis apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
Dans
3 ch
dis

Grammar separator: Dans vs dis

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Dans is aname and disaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30249, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dans is recorded at frequency rank #19,570, classified as aname. dis is at rank #10,679, 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 30249, this pair ranks #356,180 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Dans vs dis

Shared letters: ds. Private to "Dans": an. Private to "dis": i.

"Dans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "dis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dansadns · danns · danss · dasn · ddans · dnas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Dans" for "dis" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Dans" is a name and "dis" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Dans" vs "dis" - which ranks higher?
"dis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,679 in our English list, against #19,570 for "Dans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "Dans" vs "dis" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #356,180 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dans" and "dis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dans vs DNP". 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 #356,180 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list