di vs div, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“di” is a verb and “div” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#912
“di” frequency rank: #38,067
“div” frequency rank: 38979
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	di	div
Definition	Segunda persona del singular (tú) del imperativo afirmativo de decir.	Dos.

Where the eye mixes di and div

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch

3 ch

div

Visual trap between di and div

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: di is [ˈd̪i] while div is /ˈdiw/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “di” sits inside “div”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38979, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

di is recorded at frequency rank #912, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪i]. div is at rank #38,067, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdiw/.

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 38979, this pair ranks #167,057 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of di vs div

Shared letters: di. Private to "di": -. Private to "div": v.

"di" · 2 letters · shape CV · "div" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "di" for "div" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "di" is a verb and "div" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary Spanish text, does "di" or "div" show up more?

"di" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #912 in our Spanish list, against #38,067 for "div". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "di" and "div" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "di" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "div" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #167,057 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"di" and "div" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Deva vs div". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #167,057 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.