dellavsDelleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: della is a article, Delle is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“della” is an article and “Delle” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,444
“della” frequency rank
#27,034
“Delle” frequency rank
41478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature della Delle
Definition Article contracté souvent traduit par De la. Commune française, située dans le département du Territoire de Belfort.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set della and Delle apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
della
5 ch
Delle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: della is \ˈdel.la\ while Delle is \dɛl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “della” becomes e in “Delle”, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

della is recorded at frequency rank #14,444, classified as anarticle, pronounced \ˈdel.la\. Delle is at rank #27,034, tagged as aname, pronounced \dɛl\.

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 41478, this pair ranks #232,781 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of della vs Delle

Shared letters: del. Private to "della": a. Private to "Delle": -.

"della" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Delle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delladdella · delal · dlela · edlla
  • Delleddelle · dele · delel · dlele · edlle

Frequency comparison

della#14,444
Delle#27,034

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "della" and "Delle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "della" is an article and "Delle" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "della" or "Delle"?
"della" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,444 in our French list, against #27,034 for "Delle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering della vs Delle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an article, it's “della”; for a name, it's “Delle”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “della” 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