diezvsdimeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: diez is a num, dime is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“diez” is a num and “dime” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#806
“diez” frequency rank
#2,979
“dime” frequency rank
3785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature diez dime
Definition Nueve y uno. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dimir.

Where the eye mixes diez and dime

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
diez
4 ch
dime

Look-alike desk: diez vs dime

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: diez is [ˈd̪jes] while dime is [ˈd̪ime]. 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 (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

diez is recorded at frequency rank #806, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈd̪jes]. dime is at rank #2,979, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ime].

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 3785, this pair ranks #317,559 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of diez vs dime

Shared letters: dei. Private to "diez": z. Private to "dime": m.

"diez" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "dime" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • diezddiez · deiz · diezz · dize · idez
  • dimeddime · diem · dimme · dmie · idme

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "diez" and "dime" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "diez" is a num and "dime" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "diez" vs "dime" - which ranks higher?
"diez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #806 in our Spanish list, against #2,979 for "dime". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "diez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dime" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,559 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "diez" and "dime" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dime vs divo". 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 #317,559 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