Which to use
“deep” is an adjective and “del” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,937
- “deep” frequency rank
- #14
- “del” frequency rank
- 17951
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deep | del |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Profundo. | Contracción de la preposición de y el artículo el. |
Where the eye mixes deep and del
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between deep and del
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deep is /diːp/ while del is [d̪el]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deep is recorded at frequency rank #17,937, classified as anadj, pronounced /diːp/. del is at rank #14, tagged as acontraction, pronounced [d̪el].
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 17951, this pair ranks #269,946 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deep vs del
Shared letters: de. Private to "deep": p. Private to "del": l.
"deep" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "del" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- deep ← ddeep · deepp · dep · depe · edep
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deep" for "del" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "deep" or "del" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "deep" and "del" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deep" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "del" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #269,946 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deep" and "del" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deep 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 #269,946 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.