Which to use
“dañar” is a verb and “daños” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,272
- “dañar” frequency rank
- #2,391
- “daños” frequency rank
- 11663
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dañar | daños |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hacer que alguien tener herida. | Forma del plural de daño. |
Where the eye mixes dañar and daños
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dañar with daños
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dañar is [d̪aˈɲaɾ] while daños is [ˈd̪aɲos]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dañar is recorded at frequency rank #9,272, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪aˈɲaɾ]. daños is at rank #2,391, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪aɲos].
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 11663, this pair ranks #294,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dañar vs daños
Shared letters: adñ. Private to "dañar": r. Private to "daños": os.
"dañar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "daños" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dañar" for "daños" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dañar" or "daños"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dañar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "daños" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dañar" and "daños" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dañar vs danger". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #294,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.