damesvsdamnéWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dames is a noun, damné is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dames” is a noun and “damné” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,140
“dames” frequency rank
#43,376
“damné” frequency rank
47516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dames damné
Definition Jeu de dames, jeu stratégique à deux joueurs, se jouant avec des pions blancs et noirs sur un damier de 64, 100 ou 144 cases selon la variante des règles utilisée. Qui est condamné aux peines de l’enfer, qui est puni des peines de l’enfer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dames and damné apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dames
5 ch
damné

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dames is \dam\ while damné is \dɑ.ne\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dames is recorded at frequency rank #4,140, classified as anoun, pronounced \dam\. damné is at rank #43,376, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dɑ.ne\.

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 47516, this pair ranks #186,349 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dames vs damné

Shared letters: adm. Private to "dames": es. Private to "damné": .

"dames" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "damné" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • damesadmes · daems · damess · dammes · damse · ddames · dmaes

Frequency comparison

dames#4,140
damné#43,376

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dames" and "damné" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dames" is a noun and "damné" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dames" or "damné"?
"dames" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,140 in our French list, against #43,376 for "damné". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering dames vs damné

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dames”; for an adjective, it's “damné”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dames” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list