dansvsdosWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: dans is a preposition, dos is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dans” is a preposition and “dos” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,078
“dans” frequency rank
#57
“dos” frequency rank
19135
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dans dos
Definition En. Que consta de uno más que la unidad (1+1).

Where the eye mixes dans and dos

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

4 ch
dans
3 ch
dos

Why the eye confuses dans with dos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dans is [dɑ̃] while dos is [ˈd̪os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19135, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dans is recorded at frequency rank #19,078, classified as aprep, pronounced [dɑ̃]. dos is at rank #57, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈd̪os].

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 19135, this pair ranks #265,049 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dans vs dos

Shared letters: ds. Private to "dans": an. Private to "dos": o.

"dans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "dos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dansadns · danns · danss · dasn · ddans · dnas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dans" and "dos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dans" is a preposition and "dos" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dans" or "dos" show up more?
"dos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #57 in our Spanish list, against #19,078 for "dans". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,049 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dans" and "dos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dans 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 #265,049 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