Which to use
“dio” is a verb and “duro” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #481
- “dio” frequency rank
- #1,341
- “duro” frequency rank
- 1822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dio | duro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de dar o de darse. | Dicho de un material o cosa, que no se puede deformar o rayar sin esfuerzo. |
Where the eye mixes dio and duro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dio vs duro
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dio is [ˈd̪jo] while duro is [ˈd̪uɾo]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dio is recorded at frequency rank #481, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪jo]. duro is at rank #1,341, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪uɾo].
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 1822, this pair ranks #321,421 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dio vs duro
Shared letters: do. Private to "dio": i. Private to "duro": ru.
"dio" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "duro" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- duro ← dduro · druo · duor · durro · udro
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dio" for "duro" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dio" vs "duro" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dio" and "duro" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,421 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dio" and "duro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "divo vs duro". 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 #321,421 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.