Which to use
“dan” is a noun and “del” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #586
- “dan” frequency rank
- #14
- “del” frequency rank
- 600
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dan | del |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | En las artes marciales tales como el aikido, karate, yudo y otras de origen asiático, cada uno de los grados (primer dan, segundo dan, tercer dan, etc) de los cinturones negros. | Contracción de la preposición de y el artículo el. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dan and del apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
dan and del form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dan is recorded at frequency rank #586, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ãn]. del is at rank #14, tagged as acontraction, pronounced [d̪el].
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 600, this pair ranks #323,210 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dan" and "del" be used interchangeably?
Remembering dan vs del
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dan”; for a contraction, it's “del”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dan” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable