diezvsditesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: diez is a noun, dites is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“diez” is a noun and “dites” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,450
“diez” frequency rank
#1,409
“dites” frequency rank
49859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature diez dites
Definition Forme mutée de tiez par adoucissement (t → d). Participe passé féminin pluriel du verbe dire.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
diez
5 ch
dites

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: diez is \ˈdiːɛs\ while dites is \dit\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

diez is recorded at frequency rank #48,450, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈdiːɛs\. 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 49859, this pair ranks #167,325 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of diez vs dites

Shared letters: dei. Private to "diez": z. Private to "dites": st.

"diez" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "dites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • diezddiez · deiz · diezz · dize · idez
  • ditesddites · diets · ditess · ditse · dittes · dties · idtes

Frequency comparison

diez#48,450
dites#1,409

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "diez" and "dites" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "diez" is a noun and "dites" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "diez" or "dites"?
"dites" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,409 in our French list, against #48,450 for "diez". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering diez vs dites

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “diez”; for a verb, it's “dites”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “diez” 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