denvsdoyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“den” and “doy” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,020
“den” frequency rank
#1,570
“doy” frequency rank
3590
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature den doy
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de dar o de darse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de dar o de darse.

Where the eye mixes den and doy

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
den
3 ch
doy

Why the eye confuses den with doy

A purely visual mix-up. den ([ˈd̪ẽn]) and doy ([ˈd̪oj]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

den is recorded at frequency rank #2,020, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ẽn]. doy is at rank #1,570, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪oj].

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 3590, this pair ranks #317,981 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of den vs doy

Shared letters: d. Private to "den": en. Private to "doy": oy.

"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "doy" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "den" and "doy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪ẽn] versus [ˈd̪oj]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "den" or "doy"?
"doy" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,570 in our Spanish list, against #2,020 for "den". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,981 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "den" and "doy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "den vs dont". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #317,981 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