danovsdansConfusable pair

Which to use

“dano” and “dans” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,994
“dano” frequency rank
#14,559
“dans” frequency rank
19553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dano dans
Definition mal ou ofensa pessoal acusativo singular de dansur

Where the eye mixes dano and dans

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
dano
4 ch
dans

Why the eye confuses dano with dans

A purely visual mix-up. dano (/ˈdɐ.nu/) and dans (/ˈdan̥s/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - o in “dano” becomes s in “dans”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dano is recorded at frequency rank #4,994, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɐ.nu/. dans is at rank #14,559, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdan̥s/.

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 19553, this pair ranks #51,127 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dano vs dans

Shared letters: adn. Private to "dano": o. Private to "dans": s.

"dano" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • danoadno · danno · daon · ddano · dnao
  • dansadns · danns · danss · dasn · ddans · dnas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dano" for "dans" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈdɐ.nu/ versus /ˈdan̥s/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dano" or "dans"?
"dano" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,994 in our Portuguese list, against #14,559 for "dans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "dano" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #51,127 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dano" and "dans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dans 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 #51,127 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