dans
\dɑ̃\
The verdict
“dans” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #20. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #20
- frequency rank, French
- 5,307
- “D” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Préposition de lieu qui marque le rapport d’une personne ou d’une chose à ce qui la contient. Introduit un complément circonstanciel de lieu.
Corpus desk
Index FR-dans · dans · French
dans · rank #20 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #20
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,307
- PHOTO-FINISH pour
Nearest frequency peer: pour (-1 rank slots)
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “dans”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- du
du
99,984 corpus weight
- il
il
99,983 corpus weight
- pour
pour
99,982 corpus weight
- dans
dans
99,981 corpus weight
- je
je
99,980 corpus weight
- qui
qui
99,979 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “dans” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dans |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Preposition |
| IPA | \dɑ̃\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #20 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dans” sits in French frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around dans (IPA \dɑ̃\), apreposition. Corpus frequency is #20 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for dans, with forms such as "adns", "danns", and "danss". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Ds", "DN", "des", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is dans, spelled D-A-N-S.
Definition
- 1Préposition de lieu qui marque le rapport d’une personne ou d’une chose à ce qui la contient. Introduit un complément circonstanciel de lieu.
- 2Désigne la situation qu’une personne occupe, l’état où elle est, la disposition où elle se trouve, etc.
- 3Avec.
- 4Selon.
- 5Avec des mots qui indiquent une époque, une durée.
- 6Indique un moment postérieur au moment de l’énonciation.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dans appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Dans la forêt, il y a des arbres.
Il y a du fer dans les lentilles.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- adns
- danns
- danss
- dasn
- ddans
- dnas
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dans - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "dans"?
What does "dans" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "dans"?
How do you pronounce "dans"?
What language does "dans" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dans", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "dans". Here's where to go from here.
- "dans" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Ds". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #20 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more French words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.