damvsdzTell them apart

Quick tell: dam is a noun, dz is a character, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dam” is a noun and “dz” is a character - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,904
“dam” frequency rank
#47,847
“dz” frequency rank
62751
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dam dz
Definition (Utilisé uniquement dans les locutions) Dommage, préjudice. Lettre de l’alphabet hongrois entre le d et le dzs, utilisée pour \dz\.

Where the eye mixes dam and dz

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

3 ch
dam
2 ch
dz

Look-alike desk: dam vs dz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dam is \dam\ while dz is \dzeː\. 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 (noun vs character), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dam is recorded at frequency rank #14,904, classified as anoun, pronounced \dam\. dz is at rank #47,847, tagged as acharacter, pronounced \dzeː\.

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 62751, this pair ranks #85,484 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dam vs dz

Shared letters: d. Private to "dam": am. Private to "dz": z.

"dam" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dz" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dam" and "dz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dam" is a noun and "dz" a character, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dam" or "dz"?
"dam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,904 in our French list, against #47,847 for "dz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "dam" and "dz" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #85,484 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dam" and "dz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs dz". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #85,484 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list