detvsdoiWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: det is a pronoun, doi is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“det” is a pronoun and “doi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,459
“det” frequency rank
#39,709
“doi” frequency rank
75168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature det doi
Definition Él, ella, ello. Caso nominativo, acusativo y dativo del pronombre personal de tercera persona singular de género neutro. Primera persona del singular del presente de indicativo de dar.

Where the eye mixes det and doi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. det (CVC) and doi (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
det
3 ch
doi

Look-alike desk: det vs doi

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: det is [də(t)] while doi is [ˈdoj]. 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 (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

det is recorded at frequency rank #35,459, classified as apron, pronounced [də(t)]. doi is at rank #39,709, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈdoj].

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 75168, this pair ranks #20,084 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of det vs doi

Shared letters: d. Private to "det": et. Private to "doi": io.

"det" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "doi" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "det" and "doi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "det" is a pronoun and "doi" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "det" vs "doi" - which ranks higher?
"det" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,459 in our Spanish list, against #39,709 for "doi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "det" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #20,084 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "det" and "doi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doi vs dont". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #20,084 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