dicevsdiesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,417
“dice” frequency rank
#34,980
“dies” frequency rank
79397
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dice dies
Definition Pluriel de die. Dés à jouer. Pluriel de die.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
dice
4 ch
dies

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dice (\ˈdaɪs\) and dies (\daj\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79397, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dice is recorded at frequency rank #44,417, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈdaɪs\. dies is at rank #34,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced \daj\.

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 79397, this pair ranks #23,393 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dice vs dies

Shared letters: dei. Private to "dice": c. Private to "dies": s.

"dice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dicedcie · ddice · dicce · diec · idce
  • diesddies · deis

Frequency comparison

dice#44,417
dies#34,980

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dice" and "dies" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈdaɪs\ versus \daj\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dice" or "dies"?
"dies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,980 in our French list, against #44,417 for "dice". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dice vs dies

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dice” 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