damavsdarConfusable pair

Quick tell: dama is a noun, dar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dama” is a noun and “dar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,460
“dama” frequency rank
#161
“dar” frequency rank
4621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dama dar
Definition peça do jogo de xadrez transferir a posse de algo, gratuitamente, para outrem

Where the eye mixes dama and dar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
dama
3 ch
dar

Visual trap between dama and dar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dama is /ˈdɐ.mɐ/ while dar is /ˈdaɾ/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dama is recorded at frequency rank #4,460, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɐ.mɐ/. dar is at rank #161, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈdaɾ/.

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 4621, this pair ranks #70,225 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dama vs dar

Shared letters: ad. Private to "dama": m. Private to "dar": r.

"dama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dar" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • damadamma · ddama · dmaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dama" and "dar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dama" is a noun and "dar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dama" or "dar"?
"dar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #161 in our Portuguese list, against #4,460 for "dama". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dama" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,225 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dama" and "dar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dama vs dat". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #70,225 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list