Which to use
“darle” and “duele” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #911
- “darle” frequency rank
- #2,878
- “duele” frequency rank
- 3789
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | darle | duele |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Infinitivo de dar (con el pronombre «le» enclítico). | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de dolar. |
Where the eye mixes darle and duele
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses darle with duele
A purely visual mix-up. darle ([ˈd̪aɾle]) and duele ([ˈd̪wele]) 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 3789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
darle is recorded at frequency rank #911, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪aɾle]. duele is at rank #2,878, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪wele].
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 3789, this pair ranks #317,555 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of darle vs duele
Shared letters: del. Private to "darle": ar. Private to "duele": u.
"darle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "duele" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "darle" for "duele" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "darle" or "duele" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "darle" and "duele" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "darle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duele" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,555 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "darle" and "duele" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deli vs duele". 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 #317,555 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.