divvsduTell them apart

Quick tell: div is a adjective, du is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#38,067
“div” frequency rank
#5,609
“du” frequency rank
43676
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature div du
Definition Dos. Tú (pronombre de segunda persona singular familiar o informal)

Where the eye mixes div and du

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

3 ch
div
2 ch
du

Visual trap between div and du

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: div is /ˈdiw/ while du is [duː]. 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 (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

div is recorded at frequency rank #38,067, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdiw/. du is at rank #5,609, tagged as apron, pronounced [duː].

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 43676, this pair ranks #141,323 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of div vs du

Shared letters: d. Private to "div": iv. Private to "du": u.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "div" for "du" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "div" is an adjective and "du" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "div" vs "du" - which ranks higher?
"du" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,609 in our Spanish list, against #38,067 for "div". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "div" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "du" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #141,323 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "div" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Deva vs div". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #141,323 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