doblóvsdueloWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dobló is a verb, duelo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dobló” is a verb and “duelo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,177
“dobló” frequency rank
#4,885
“duelo” frequency rank
44062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dobló duelo
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de doblar. Combate entre dos personas que ha sido previamente acordado entre los participantes, generalmente a consecuencia de una ofensa previa de uno de los contendientes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dobló and duelo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dobló
5 ch
duelo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dobló is [d̪oˈβ̞lo] while duelo is [ˈd̪welo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dobló is recorded at frequency rank #39,177, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪oˈβ̞lo]. duelo is at rank #4,885, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪welo].

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 44062, this pair ranks #139,133 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dobló vs duelo

Shared letters: dlo. Private to "dobló": . Private to "duelo": eu.

"dobló" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "duelo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duelodduelo · deulo · duello · dueol · duleo · udelo

Frequency comparison

dobló#39,177
duelo#4,885

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dobló" and "duelo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dobló" is a verb and "duelo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dobló" or "duelo"?
"duelo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,885 in our Spanish list, against #39,177 for "dobló". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dobló vs duelo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “dobló”; for a noun, it's “duelo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dobló” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list