Which to use
“deed” is a noun and “dem” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,352
- “deed” frequency rank
- #8,533
- “dem” frequency rank
- 18885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deed | dem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An action or act; something that is done. | Nonstandard form of them. |
Where the eye mixes deed and dem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between deed and dem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deed is /diːd/ while dem is /dɛm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deed is recorded at frequency rank #10,352, classified as anoun, pronounced /diːd/. dem is at rank #8,533, tagged as apron, pronounced /dɛm/.
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 18885, this pair ranks #441,946 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deed vs dem
Shared letters: de. Private to "deed": -. Private to "dem": m.
"deed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- deed ← ddeed · dede · deedd · eded
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "deed" and "dem" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "deed" vs "dem" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "deed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #441,946 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deed" and "dem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deed vs derp". 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 #441,946 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.