Which to use
“dat” is a pronoun and “del” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,908
- “dat” frequency rank
- #1,706
- “del” frequency rank
- 51614
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dat | del |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aquele; pronome neutro que se refere a algo ou alguém distante de quem fala | do, da, contração da preposição de com o artigo definido singular el: |
Letter map: dat vs del
Shared letters muted; letters that set dat and del apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Grammar separator: dat vs del
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dat is apronoun and delacontraction. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51614, 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]. del is at rank #1,706, tagged as acontraction.
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 51614, this pair ranks #13,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dat vs del
Shared letters: d. Private to "dat": at. Private to "del": el.
"dat" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "del" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dat" for "del" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "dat" or "del" show up more?
After this comparison
Pair "dat" vs "del" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "dat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "del" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dat" and "del" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "damo vs dat". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #13,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.