dabavsdadeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,109
“daba” frequency rank
#46,463
“dade” frequency rank
48572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature daba dade
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de dar o de darse. Segunda persona del plural (vós) del imperativo de dar.

Where the eye mixes daba and dade

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

4 ch
daba
4 ch
dade

Visual trap between daba and dade

A purely visual mix-up. daba ([ˈd̪aβ̞a]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48572, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

daba is recorded at frequency rank #2,109, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪aβ̞a]. 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 48572, this pair ranks #113,740 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of daba vs dade

Shared letters: ad. Private to "daba": b. Private to "dade": e.

"daba" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dabaadba · daab · dabba · dava · dbaa · ddaba
  • dadeadde · dadde · ddade · ddae

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "daba" and "dade" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪aβ̞a] versus [ˈd̪að̞ɪ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "daba" or "dade" show up more?
"daba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,109 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "daba" 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 #113,740 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "daba" 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 #113,740 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