davsdadeConfusable pair

Which to use

“da” and “dade” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#211
“da” frequency rank
#46,463
“dade” frequency rank
46674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature da dade
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dar o de darse. Segunda persona del plural (vós) del imperativo de dar.

Where the eye mixes da and dade

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
da
4 ch
dade

Look-alike desk: da vs dade

A purely visual mix-up. da ([ˈd̪a]) and dade ([ˈd̪að̞ɪ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “da” sits inside “dade”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

da is recorded at frequency rank #211, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪a]. dade is at rank #46,463, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪að̞ɪ].

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 46674, this pair ranks #124,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of da vs dade

Shared letters: ad. Private to "da": -. Private to "dade": e.

"da" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "dade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dadeadde · dadde · ddade · ddae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "da" for "dade" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪a] versus [ˈd̪að̞ɪ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "da" or "dade"?
"da" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #211 in our Spanish list, against #46,463 for "dade". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "da" and "dade" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "da" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #124,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "da" and "dade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dade vs dañen". 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 #124,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list