damvsdizWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,654
“dam” frequency rank
#156
“diz” frequency rank
34810
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dam diz
Definition senhora terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo dizer

Where the eye mixes dam and diz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
dam
3 ch
diz

Look-alike desk: dam vs diz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dam is /dɑːm/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while diz is /ˈʤis/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34810, 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 ?). diz is at rank #156, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈʤis/.

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 34810, this pair ranks #32,370 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dam vs diz

Shared letters: d. Private to "dam": am. Private to "diz": iz.

"dam" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "diz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dam" and "diz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dam" is a noun and "diz" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dam" or "diz"?
"diz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #156 in our Portuguese list, against #34,654 for "dam". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "diz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,370 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dam" and "diz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dam vs dat". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #32,370 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list