dañovsdedoConfusable pair

Which to use

“daño” and “dedo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,164
“daño” frequency rank
#2,823
“dedo” frequency rank
3987
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature daño dedo
Definition Acción o efecto de dañar. Cada uno de los apéndices en que termina la mano.

Where the eye mixes daño and dedo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
daño
4 ch
dedo

Why the eye confuses daño with dedo

A purely visual mix-up. daño ([ˈd̪aɲo]) and dedo ([ˈd̪eð̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

daño is recorded at frequency rank #1,164, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪aɲo]. dedo is at rank #2,823, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪eð̞o].

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 3987, this pair ranks #317,123 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of daño vs dedo

Shared letters: do. Private to "daño": . Private to "dedo": e.

"daño" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dedo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dedoddedo · ddeo · deddo · deod · eddo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "daño" and "dedo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪aɲo] versus [ˈd̪eð̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "daño" or "dedo"?
"daño" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,164 in our Spanish list, against #2,823 for "dedo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "daño" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dedo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,123 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "daño" and "dedo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dedo vs Deva". 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 #317,123 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