damovsdemWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: damo is a noun, dem is an article, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“damo” is a noun and “dem” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,855
“damo” frequency rank
#7,268
“dem” frequency rank
56123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature damo dem
Definition dama, rainha o, ao, do, artigo definido masculino do caso dativo singular

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
damo
3 ch
dem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: damo is /ˈda.mɔ/ while dem is /deːm/. 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 article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

damo is recorded at frequency rank #48,855, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈda.mɔ/. dem is at rank #7,268, tagged as anarticle, pronounced /deːm/.

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 56123, this pair ranks #10,163 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of damo vs dem

Shared letters: dm. Private to "damo": ao. Private to "dem": e.

"damo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dem" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • damoadmo · dammo · daom · ddamo · dmao

Frequency comparison

damo#48,855
dem#7,268

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "damo" and "dem" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "damo" is a noun and "dem" an article, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "damo" or "dem"?
"dem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,268 in our Portuguese list, against #48,855 for "damo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering damo vs dem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “damo”; for an article, it's “dem”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “damo” 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