damevsdoceWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: dame is a noun, doce is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dame” is a noun and “doce” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,475
“dame” frequency rank
#2,825
“doce” frequency rank
6300
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dame doce
Definition Figura simple dentro de la salsa cubana, donde se cambia a la pareja por el dile que no a la siguiente chica. Once y uno.

Where the eye mixes dame and doce

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

4 ch
dame
4 ch
doce

Look-alike desk: dame vs doce

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dame is [ˈd̪ame] while doce is [ˈd̪ose]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dame is recorded at frequency rank #3,475, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ame]. doce is at rank #2,825, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈd̪ose].

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 6300, this pair ranks #311,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dame vs doce

Shared letters: de. Private to "dame": am. Private to "doce": co.

"dame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "doce" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dameadme · daem · damme · ddame · dmae
  • docedcoe · ddoce · docce · doec · dose · odce

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dame" and "doce" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dame" is a noun and "doce" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "dame" vs "doce" - which ranks higher?
"doce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,825 in our Spanish list, against #3,475 for "dame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "dame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #311,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dame" and "doce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doce vs dont". 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 #311,176 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