Which to use
“dam” is a noun and “damn” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,524
- “dam” frequency rank
- #41,281
- “damn” frequency rank
- 74805
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dam | damn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Presa, dique | Condenar. |
Same sound, different letters: dam vs damn
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. dam runs 3 letters (CVC) against damn's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - dam / damn
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: dam and damn carry the same recorded pronunciation, /dæm/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dam” sits inside “damn”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dam is recorded at frequency rank #33,524, classified as anoun, pronounced /dæm/. damn is at rank #41,281, tagged as averb, pronounced /dæm/.
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 74805, this pair ranks #20,676 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dam vs damn
Shared letters: adm. Private to "dam": -. Private to "damn": n.
"dam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "damn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- damn ← admn · dammn · damnn · danm · ddamn · dman
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dam" and "damn" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dam" or "damn" show up more?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "dam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "damn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,676 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dam" and "damn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "damn 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 #20,676 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.