demásvsdumaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: demás is a adverb, duma is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“demás” is an adverb and “duma” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#414
“demás” frequency rank
#39,714
“duma” frequency rank
40128
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature demás duma
Definition Además. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de dumir.

Where the eye mixes demás and duma

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. demás runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against duma's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
demás
4 ch
duma

Why the eye confuses demás with duma

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: demás is [d̪eˈmas] while duma is [ˈd̪uma]. 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 (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40128, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

demás is recorded at frequency rank #414, classified as anadv, pronounced [d̪eˈmas]. duma is at rank #39,714, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪uma].

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 40128, this pair ranks #160,737 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of demás vs duma

Shared letters: dm. Private to "demás": esá. Private to "duma": au.

"demás" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "duma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duma ← dduma · dmua · duam · dumma · udma

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "demás" for "duma" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "demás" is an adverb and "duma" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "demás" vs "duma" - which ranks higher?
"demás" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #414 in our Spanish list, against #39,714 for "duma". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "demás" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,737 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "demás" and "duma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Deva vs duma". 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 #160,737 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