dedovsdoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,823
“dedo” frequency rank
#1,980
“do” frequency rank
4803
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dedo do
Definition Cada uno de los apéndices en que termina la mano. Nota musical. Corresponde a la primera en la escala musical, situada entre el si y el re.

Where the eye mixes dedo and do

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

4 ch
dedo
2 ch
do

Look-alike desk: dedo vs do

A purely visual mix-up. dedo ([ˈd̪eð̞o]) and do ([ˈd̪o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “do” sits inside “dedo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4803, 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]. do is at rank #1,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪o].

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 4803, this pair ranks #315,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dedo vs do

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

"dedo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "do" · 2 letters · shape CV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dedoddedo · ddeo · deddo · deod · eddo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dedo" and "do" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪eð̞o] versus [ˈd̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dedo" vs "do" - which ranks higher?
"do" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,980 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.

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 "dedo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "do" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #315,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dedo" and "do" 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 #315,216 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