Which to use
“den” is a verb and “día” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,020
- “den” frequency rank
- #76
- “día” frequency rank
- 2096
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | día |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de dar o de darse. | Tiempo que tarda la Tierra en dar una vuelta alrededor de su eje, equivalente a 24 horas. |
Where the eye mixes den and día
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses den with día
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: den is [ˈd̪ẽn] while día is [ˈd̪ia]. 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 2096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #2,020, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ẽn]. día is at rank #76, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ia].
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 2096, this pair ranks #320,984 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of den vs día
Shared letters: d. Private to "den": en. Private to "día": aí.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "día" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "día" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "den" or "día" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "den" and "día" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "día" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,984 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "día" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "den vs dont". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #320,984 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.