delosvsdueloWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: delos is a contraction, duelo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“delos” is a contraction and “duelo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,063
“delos” frequency rank
#4,885
“duelo” frequency rank
37948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delos duelo
Definition Contracción de la preposición de y el artículo los Combate entre dos personas que ha sido previamente acordado entre los participantes, generalmente a consecuencia de una ofensa previa de uno de los contendientes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set delos and duelo apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
delos
5 ch
duelo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

delos and duelo form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delos is recorded at frequency rank #33,063, classified as acontraction, pronounced /ˈde.los/. duelo is at rank #4,885, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪welo].

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 37948, this pair ranks #172,620 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

delos#33,063
duelo#4,885

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "delos" and "duelo" be used interchangeably?
No, "delos" and "duelo" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering delos vs duelo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “delos”; for a noun, it's “duelo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “delos” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list