Which to use
“deems” and “does” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,348
- “deems” frequency rank
- #177
- “does” frequency rank
- 25525
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deems | does |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of deem | third-person singular simple present indicative of do |
Where the eye mixes deems and does
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: deems vs does
A purely visual mix-up. deems (/diːmz/) and does (/dəz/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deems is recorded at frequency rank #25,348, classified as averb, pronounced /diːmz/. does is at rank #177, tagged as averb, pronounced /dəz/.
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 25525, this pair ranks #393,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deems vs does
Shared letters: des. Private to "deems": m. Private to "does": o.
"deems" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "does" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deems" for "does" ever safe?
Frequency check: "deems" vs "does" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "deems" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "does" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #393,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deems" and "does" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deems vs dregs". 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 #393,606 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.