Grammar Nazi: Ending the Dice vs. Die Debate

Date Published: 12 September 2018 | Author: Mag Jehnsen | 2 votes - 100.00% Click a star to vote

“Roll the dice,” is, perhaps, one of the most known idioms in the English language. We can often hear it in songs or movies. In the context of this phrase, we understand what it means. However, some people find it hard to differentiate between dice and die. For a native speaker, the difference sounds obvious. However, students of the elementary/middle school or foreigners may confuse these two words even though they do not sound identical.

So, speaking about dices, those are tiny cubes involved in gambling. The visitors to casinos, nightclubs, and game nights know the meaning of this word for sure. They usually do not get lost in a die vs. dice debate.

What Makes These Two Different?

Thus, we concluded that the word “dice” refers to the 6-sided object used in gambling. It has a specific number on each side and is most frequently used to solve debates or decide who starts the game. How about having multiple objects of this type? Would they be called dice or die?

1. In most situations, native speakers would say “die.” It is an official plural form of “dice.” You’ve got it right: while most of us used to think that “dice” is a singular form, everything is vice versa. Now, you should try to keep this in mind for your increased literacy and proper solution to the dice vs. die debate.
2. In its turn, the words “die” as the singular form of “dice” and “die” as someone leaving the life behind are homonyms meaning they are written and pronounced in the same way meaning different things. You already know the meaning and usage of each, so try not to confuse them in speech.

Using Die versus Using Dice

So that we have discovered the difference between die dice, you Amy wonder when to use each of these words. If you need the verb meaning to stop leaving, you will need to insert “die” in your speech. If you wish to use “die” as a tiny cube discussed above, have a look at these examples to understand the usage properly:

• I had to roll the die to find out whether Jerold or I was the one to start off the Monopoly game that time;
• Mary wanted to join Mafia along with her pals, but she lost the die.

Yes, a die is a noun in a singular form. Now, it is time to look at the usage of the first word in the dice die conflict.

Dice is a plural form. It stands for more than a single gambling cube. While games like Poker and Monopoly apply a couple of dice, Yahtzee and similar games need 5 dice at a time! It makes the game more dynamic and interesting.

The examples of its usage to let you understand whether to use die or dice could be:

• Some card games require the players to roll a couple of dice at a time while the games like Clue use just a single die at once.
• John has lost plenty of money on dice games, so it makes us wonder why he’s still in play.

So, simply keep in mind two rules not to get lost in the die hard dice dilemma:

1. A die is a single cube;
2. Dice refer to a couple or even more cubes.