dlavsdotaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dla is a preposition, dota is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dla” is a preposition and “dota” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,771
“dla” frequency rank
#44,989
“dota” frequency rank
72760
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dla dota
Definition Pour. Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe doter.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
dla
4 ch
dota

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dla is \dla\ while dota is \dɔ.ta\. 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 (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dla is recorded at frequency rank #27,771, classified as aprep, pronounced \dla\. dota is at rank #44,989, tagged as averb, pronounced \dɔ.ta\.

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 72760, this pair ranks #42,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dla vs dota

Shared letters: ad. Private to "dla": l. Private to "dota": ot.

"dla" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "dota" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dotaddota · doat · dotta · dtoa · odta

Frequency comparison

dla#27,771
dota#44,989

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dla" and "dota" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dla" is a preposition and "dota" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dla" or "dota"?
"dla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,771 in our French list, against #44,989 for "dota". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dla vs dota

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “dla”; for a verb, it's “dota”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dla” 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