dedovsDevaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dedo is a noun, Deva is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dedo” is a noun and “Deva” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,823
“dedo” frequency rank
#49,578
“Deva” frequency rank
52401
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dedo Deva
Definition Cada uno de los apéndices en que termina la mano. Apellido.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dedo and Deva apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
dedo
4 ch
Deva

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dedo is [ˈd̪eð̞o] while Deva is [ˈd̪eβ̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dedo is recorded at frequency rank #2,823, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪eð̞o]. Deva is at rank #49,578, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞a].

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 52401, this pair ranks #92,885 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dedo vs Deva

Shared letters: de. Private to "dedo": o. Private to "Deva": av.

"dedo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Deva" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dedoddedo · ddeo · deddo · deod · eddo
  • Devaddeva · deav · devva · dvea · edva

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dedo" and "Deva" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dedo" is a noun and "Deva" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dedo" or "Deva"?
"dedo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,823 in our Spanish list, against #49,578 for "Deva". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list