dadosvsdelosWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: dados is a participle, delos is a contraction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dados” is a participle and “delos” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,410
“dados” frequency rank
#33,063
“delos” frequency rank
40473
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dados delos
Definition Forma del plural de dado, participio de dar. Contracción de la preposición de y el artículo los

Where the eye mixes dados and delos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. dados and delos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
dados
5 ch
delos

Why the eye confuses dados with delos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dados is [ˈd̪að̞os] while delos is /ˈde.los/. 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 (participle vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dados is recorded at frequency rank #7,410, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [ˈd̪að̞os]. delos is at rank #33,063, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈde.los/.

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 40473, this pair ranks #158,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dados vs delos

Shared letters: dos. Private to "dados": a. Private to "delos": el.

"dados" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "delos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dados ← addos · daddos · dadoss · dadso · daods · ddados · ddaos
  • delos ← ddelos · dellos · deloss · delso · deols · dleos · edlos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dados" and "delos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dados" is a participle and "delos" a contraction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dados" or "delos"?
"dados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,410 in our Spanish list, against #33,063 for "delos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "delos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #158,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dados" and "delos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deli vs delos". 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 #158,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list