Which to use
“de” is a preposition and “deir” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1
- “de” frequency rank
- #46,473
- “deir” frequency rank
- 46474
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | de | deir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Indica pertenencia. | Mutación suave del adjetivo numeral cardinal femenino teir ('tres') |
Where the eye mixes de and deir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: de vs deir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: de is [d̪e] while deir is [ˈdɛjr]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “de” sits inside “deir”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
de is recorded at frequency rank #1, classified as aprep, pronounced [d̪e]. deir is at rank #46,473, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɛjr].
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 46474, this pair ranks #125,509 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of de vs deir
Shared letters: de. Private to "de": -. Private to "deir": ir.
"de" · 2 letters · shape CV · "deir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- deir ← ddeir · deirr · deri · edir
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "de" and "deir" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "de" or "deir" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "de" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,509 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "de" and "deir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deir 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 #125,509 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.