Which to use
“delante” is an adverb and “demente” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,543
- “delante” frequency rank
- #18,508
- “demente” frequency rank
- 20051
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delante | demente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Antes o con preferencia de lugar. | Loco o falto de juicio. |
Where the eye mixes delante and demente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. delante and demente follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between delante and demente
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: delante is [d̪eˈlãn̪t̪e] while demente is [d̪eˈmẽn̪t̪e]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20051, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delante is recorded at frequency rank #1,543, classified as anadv, pronounced [d̪eˈlãn̪t̪e]. demente is at rank #18,508, tagged as anadj, pronounced [d̪eˈmẽn̪t̪e].
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 20051, this pair ranks #261,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of delante vs demente
Shared letters: dent. Private to "delante": al. Private to "demente": m.
"delante" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "demente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "delante" and "demente" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "delante" or "demente" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "delante" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #261,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delante" and "demente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déjense vs demente". 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 #261,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.