datesvsdramesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,603
“dates” frequency rank
#14,660
“drames” frequency rank
18263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dates drames
Definition Pluriel de date. Pluriel de drame.

Where the eye mixes dates and drames

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

5 ch
dates
6 ch
drames

Why the eye confuses dates with drames

A purely visual mix-up. dates (\dat\) and drames (\dʁam\) 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 18263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dates is recorded at frequency rank #3,603, classified as anoun, pronounced \dat\. drames is at rank #14,660, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dʁam\.

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 18263, this pair ranks #379,208 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dates vs drames

Shared letters: ades. Private to "dates": t. Private to "drames": mr.

"dates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "drames" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • datesadtes · daets · datess · datse · ddates · dtaes
  • dramesdarmes · ddrames · draems · dramess · drammes · dramse · drmaes · drrames

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dates" and "drames" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\dat\ versus \dʁam\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dates" or "drames"?
"dates" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,603 in our French list, against #14,660 for "drames". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "drames" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #379,208 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dates" and "drames" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dragues vs drames". 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 #379,208 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