Which to use
“dat” is a pronoun and “de” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,908
- “dat” frequency rank
- #1
- “de” frequency rank
- 49909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dat | de |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aquele; pronome neutro que se refere a algo ou alguém distante de quem fala | estabelece uma ligação entre duas palavras, (geralmente uma relação de subordinação), podendo expressar |
Where the eye mixes dat and de
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dat with de
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dat is [dɑt] while de is /ʤɪ/; /ˈde/ (em finais de frases interrogativas, exemplo: estamos falando de?). 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 (pronoun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dat is recorded at frequency rank #49,908, classified as apron, pronounced [dɑt]. de is at rank #1, tagged as aprep, pronounced /ʤɪ/; /ˈde/ (em finais de frases interrogativas, exemplo: estamos falando de?).
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 49909, this pair ranks #15,075 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dat vs de
Shared letters: d. Private to "dat": at. Private to "de": e.
"dat" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "de" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dat" for "de" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dat" vs "de" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dat" and "de" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "de" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,075 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dat" and "de" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "damo vs dat". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #15,075 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.