Which to use
“dies” and “dig” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,554
- “dies” frequency rank
- #4,940
- “dig” frequency rank
- 8494
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dies | dig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of die | To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way. |
Where the eye mixes dies and dig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dies and dig
A purely visual mix-up. dies (/daɪz/) and dig (/dɪɡ/) 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 8494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dies is recorded at frequency rank #3,554, classified as averb, pronounced /daɪz/. dig is at rank #4,940, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪɡ/.
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 8494, this pair ranks #502,208 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dies vs dig
Shared letters: di. Private to "dies": es. Private to "dig": g.
"dies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dig" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dies ← ddies · deis · diess · dise
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dies" for "dig" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dies" vs "dig" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #502,208 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dies" and "dig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dig vs dox". 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 #502,208 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.