dicevsdicteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“dice” and “dicte” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#152
“dice” frequency rank
#30,871
“dicte” frequency rank
31023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dice dicte
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de decir. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de dictar.

Where the eye mixes dice and dicte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
dice
5 ch
dicte

Look-alike desk: dice vs dicte

A purely visual mix-up. dice ([ˈd̪ise]) and dicte ([ˈd̪ikt̪e]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dice is recorded at frequency rank #152, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ise]. dicte is at rank #30,871, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ikt̪e].

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 31023, this pair ranks #209,182 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dice vs dicte

Shared letters: cdei. Private to "dice": -. Private to "dicte": t.

"dice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dicte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dicedcie · ddice · dicce · diec · dise · idce
  • dictedcite · ddicte · diccte · dicet · dictte · ditce · idcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dice" for "dicte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪ise] versus [ˈd̪ikt̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dice" vs "dicte" - which ranks higher?
"dice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #152 in our Spanish list, against #30,871 for "dicte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "dice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dicte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #209,182 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dice" and "dicte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decae vs dicte". 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 #209,182 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