darvsduoWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#161
“dar” frequency rank
#15,317
“duo” frequency rank
15478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dar duo
Definition transferir a posse de algo, gratuitamente, para outrem grupo de duas pessoas que atuam conjuntamente

Where the eye mixes dar and duo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
dar
3 ch
duo

Visual trap between dar and duo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dar is /ˈdaɾ/ while duo is [du.o], Plural: [du.os]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dar is recorded at frequency rank #161, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdaɾ/. duo is at rank #15,317, tagged as anoun, pronounced [du.o], Plural: [du.os].

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 15478, this pair ranks #56,328 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dar vs duo

Shared letters: d. Private to "dar": ar. Private to "duo": ou.

"dar" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "duo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dar" for "duo" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dar" is a verb and "duo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "dar" or "duo" show up more?
"dar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #161 in our Portuguese list, against #15,317 for "duo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,328 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dar" and "duo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs duo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #56,328 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