datéesvsditesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“datées” and “dites” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,973
“datées” frequency rank
#1,409
“dites” frequency rank
32382
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature datées dites
Definition Participe passé féminin pluriel de dater. Participe passé féminin pluriel du verbe dire.

Where the eye mixes datées and dites

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
datées
5 ch
dites

Look-alike desk: datées vs dites

A purely visual mix-up. datées (\da.te\) and dites (\dit\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

datées is recorded at frequency rank #30,973, classified as averb, pronounced \da.te\. dites is at rank #1,409, tagged as averb, pronounced \dit\.

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 32382, this pair ranks #297,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of datées vs dites

Shared letters: dest. Private to "datées": . Private to "dites": i.

"datées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "dites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ditesddites · diets · ditess · ditse · dittes · dties · idtes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "datées" and "dites" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\da.te\ versus \dit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "datées" or "dites" show up more?
"dites" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,409 in our French list, against #30,973 for "datées". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "datées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #297,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "datées" and "dites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "datées vs douées". 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 #297,664 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