Which to use
“dam” and “dash” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,654
- “dam” frequency rank
- #21,982
- “dash” frequency rank
- 56636
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dam | dash |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | senhora | travessão, hífen |
Where the eye mixes dam and dash
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dam with dash
A purely visual mix-up. dam (/dɑːm/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and dash (/ˈdæʃ/) 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 56636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dam is recorded at frequency rank #34,654, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɑːm/ ouvir^(fonte ?). dash is at rank #21,982, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdæʃ/.
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 56636, this pair ranks #9,841 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dam vs dash
Shared letters: ad. Private to "dam": m. Private to "dash": hs.
"dam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dash ← adsh · dahs · dashh · dassh · ddash · dsah
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dam" and "dash" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dam" or "dash"?
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 "dam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dash" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,841 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dam" and "dash" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dam vs dat". 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 #9,841 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.