Which to use
“del” and “della” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14
- “del” frequency rank
- #9,968
- “della” frequency rank
- 9982
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | del | della |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contracción de la preposición de y el artículo el. | Contracción de la preposición de y el pronombre ella. |
Where the eye mixes del and della
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between del and della
A purely visual mix-up. del ([d̪el]) and della ([ˈd̪eʝa]) 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) - “del” sits inside “della”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
del is recorded at frequency rank #14, classified as acontraction, pronounced [d̪el]. della is at rank #9,968, tagged as acontraction, pronounced [ˈd̪eʝa].
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 9982, this pair ranks #300,205 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of del vs della
Shared letters: del. Private to "del": -. Private to "della": a.
"del" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "della" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- della ← ddella · delal · dlela · edlla
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "del" for "della" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "del" or "della" 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 "del" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "della" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,205 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "del" and "della" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "della 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 #300,205 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.