doublevsdueleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: double is a adjective, duele is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#30,043
“double” frequency rank
#2,878
“duele” frequency rank
32921
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature double duele
Definition Doble. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de dolar.

Where the eye mixes double and duele

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
double
5 ch
duele

Visual trap between double and duele

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: double is /ˈdʌb.əl/ while duele is [ˈd̪wele]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

double is recorded at frequency rank #30,043, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdʌb.əl/. duele is at rank #2,878, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪wele].

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 32921, this pair ranks #199,481 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of double vs duele

Shared letters: delu. Private to "double": bo. Private to "duele": -.

"double" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "duele" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doubleddouble · dobule · doubble · doubel · doublle · doulbe · douvle · duoble
  • dueledduele · deule · dueel · duelle · dulee · udele

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "double" and "duele" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "double" is an adjective and "duele" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "double" vs "duele" - which ranks higher?
"duele" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,878 in our Spanish list, against #30,043 for "double". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "double" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duele" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #199,481 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "double" and "duele" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dobló vs double". 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 #199,481 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