Which to use
“da” is a contraction and “de” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8
- “da” frequency rank
- #1
- “de” frequency rank
- 9
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | da | de |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração da preposição de com o artigo definido a | estabelece uma ligação entre duas palavras, (geralmente uma relação de subordinação), podendo expressar |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set da and de apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
da and de form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - a in “da” becomes e in “de” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
da is recorded at frequency rank #8, classified as acontraction, pronounced /da/. de is at rank #1, tagged as aprep, pronounced /ʤɪ/; /ˈde/ (em finais de frases interrogativas, exemplo: estamos falando de?).
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 9, this pair ranks #75,630 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "da" and "de" be used interchangeably?
Remembering da vs de
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “da”; for a preposition, it's “de”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “da” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable