daí vs de, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“daí” is a contraction and “de” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,387
“daí” frequency rank: #1
“de” frequency rank: 1388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	daí	de
Definition	contração da preposição de com o advérbio de lugar aí:	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 daí and de apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

daí

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: daí is /dɐ.ˈi/ while de is /ʤɪ/; /ˈde/ (em finais de frases interrogativas, exemplo: estamos falando de?). 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 (contraction vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

daí is recorded at frequency rank #1,387, classified as acontraction, pronounced /dɐ.ˈi/. 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 1388, this pair ranks #74,194 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of daí vs de

Shared letters: d. Private to "daí": aí. Private to "de": e.

"daí" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "de" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

daí#1,387

de#1

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "daí" and "de" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "daí" is a contraction and "de" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "daí" or "de"?

"de" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1 in our Portuguese list, against #1,387 for "daí". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering daí vs de

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “daí”; for a preposition, it's “de”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “daí” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable