dansvsdasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dans is a preposition, das is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dans” is a preposition and “das” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20
“dans” frequency rank
#12,761
“das” frequency rank
12781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dans das
Definition 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. Sida.

Letter map: dans vs das

Shared letters muted; letters that set dans and das apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
dans
3 ch
das

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dans is apreposition and dasanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dans is recorded at frequency rank #20, classified as aprep, pronounced \dɑ̃\. das is at rank #12,761, tagged as anoun.

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 12781, this pair ranks #403,801 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dans vs das

Shared letters: ads. Private to "dans": n. Private to "das": -.

"dans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "das" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dansadns · danns · danss · dasn · ddans · dnas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dans" and "das" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dans" is a preposition and "das" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dans" or "das"?
"dans" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20 in our French list, against #12,761 for "das". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "dans" and "das". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "das" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #403,801 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dans" and "das" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "das vs dray". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list