Which to use
“de” is a preposition and “dent” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1
- “de” frequency rank
- #40,232
- “dent” frequency rank
- 40233
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | de | dent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Indica pertenencia. | Forma del plural de dant ('dientes') |
Where the eye mixes de and dent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: de vs dent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: de is [d̪e] while dent is [ˈdɛnt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “de” sits inside “dent”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
de is recorded at frequency rank #1, classified as aprep, pronounced [d̪e]. dent is at rank #40,232, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛnt].
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 40233, this pair ranks #160,191 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of de vs dent
Shared letters: de. Private to "de": -. Private to "dent": nt.
"de" · 2 letters · shape CV · "dent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dent ← ddent · dennt · dentt · detn · dnet · ednt
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "de" and "dent" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "de" or "dent" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "de" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #160,191 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "de" and "dent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dent vs dont". 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 #160,191 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.