dansvsdoisTell them apart

Quick tell: dans is a noun, dois is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dans” is a noun and “dois” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,559
“dans” frequency rank
#109
“dois” frequency rank
14668
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dans dois
Definition acusativo singular de dansur número equivalente a um mais um; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha um elemento e um outro elemento distinto; representado pelo símbolo 2 (algarismos indo-arábicos) ou II (algarismos romanos); seu feminino é duas

Where the eye mixes dans and dois

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

4 ch
dans
4 ch
dois

Look-alike desk: dans vs dois

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dans is /ˈdan̥s/ while dois is /ˈdojʃ/. 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 (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dans is recorded at frequency rank #14,559, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈdan̥s/. dois is at rank #109, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈdojʃ/.

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 14668, this pair ranks #57,356 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dans vs dois

Shared letters: ds. Private to "dans": an. Private to "dois": io.

"dans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "dois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dansadns · danns · danss · dasn · ddans · dnas
  • doisddois · dios · doiss · dosi · odis

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dans" and "dois" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dans" is a noun and "dois" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dans" or "dois"?
"dois" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #109 in our Portuguese list, against #14,559 for "dans". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dois" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,356 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dans" and "dois" 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 #57,356 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