DíazvsdigTell them apart

Quick tell: Díaz is a name, dig is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Díaz” is a name and “dig” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,494
“Díaz” frequency rank
#35,991
“dig” frequency rank
38485
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Díaz dig
Definition Apellido Cavar, escarbar.

Where the eye mixes Díaz and dig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
Díaz
3 ch
dig

Visual trap between Díaz and dig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Díaz is [ˈd̪ias] while dig is /dɪg/. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38485, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Díaz is recorded at frequency rank #2,494, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈd̪ias]. dig is at rank #35,991, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪg/.

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 38485, this pair ranks #169,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Díaz vs dig

Shared letters: d. Private to "Díaz": azí. Private to "dig": gi.

"Díaz" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "dig" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Díaz" and "dig" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Díaz" is a name and "dig" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "Díaz" or "dig" show up more?
"Díaz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,494 in our Spanish list, against #35,991 for "dig". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Díaz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #169,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Díaz" and "dig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dig vs divo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #169,770 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