daívsdieWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: daí is a contraction, die is an article, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#1,387
“daí” frequency rank
#12,038
“die” frequency rank
13425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature daí die
Definition contração da preposição de com o advérbio de lugar aí: o, a, os, as, artigo definido:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set daí and die apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
daí
3 ch
die

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: daí is /dɐ.ˈi/ while die is /di/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13425, 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/. die is at rank #12,038, tagged as anarticle, pronounced /di/.

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 13425, this pair ranks #58,923 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of daí vs die

Shared letters: d. Private to "daí": . Private to "die": ei.

"daí" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "die" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

daí#1,387
die#12,038

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "daí" and "die" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "daí" is a contraction and "die" an article, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "daí" or "die"?
"daí" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,387 in our Portuguese list, against #12,038 for "die". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering daí vs die

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “daí”; for an article, it's “die”.
  • 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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list