deglivsdelloWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“degli” and “dello” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,274
“degli” frequency rank
#35,458
“dello” frequency rank
77732
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature degli dello
Definition Article contracté souvent traduit par des. Note d’usage : il s’emploie alternativement à dei devant les consonnes impures : s, gn, pn, ps, x, z. Contraction de di (« de ») et lo (« le »), du.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set degli and dello apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
degli
5 ch
dello

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. degli (\ˈdeʎ.ʎi\) and dello (\ˈdel.lo\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

degli is recorded at frequency rank #42,274, classified as anarticle, pronounced \ˈdeʎ.ʎi\. dello is at rank #35,458, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \ˈdel.lo\.

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 77732, this pair ranks #27,604 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of degli vs dello

Shared letters: del. Private to "degli": gi. Private to "dello": o.

"degli" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "dello" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • degliddegli · deggli · degil · deglli · delgi · dgeli · edgli
  • delloddello · delo · delol · dlelo · edllo

Frequency comparison

degli#42,274
dello#35,458

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degli" and "dello" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈdeʎ.ʎi\ versus \ˈdel.lo\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "degli" or "dello"?
"dello" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,458 in our French list, against #42,274 for "degli". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering degli vs dello

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “degli” 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