Which to use
“dat” is a pronoun and “dem” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,908
- “dat” frequency rank
- #7,268
- “dem” frequency rank
- 57176
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dat | dem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aquele; pronome neutro que se refere a algo ou alguém distante de quem fala | o, ao, do, artigo definido masculino do caso dativo singular |
Where the eye mixes dat and dem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dat with dem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dat is [dɑt] while dem is /deːm/. 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 (pronoun vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57176, 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]. dem is at rank #7,268, tagged as anarticle, pronounced /deːm/.
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 57176, this pair ranks #9,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dat vs dem
Shared letters: d. Private to "dat": at. Private to "dem": em.
"dat" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dat" for "dem" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dat" vs "dem" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "dat" and "dem" 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 "dem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dat" and "dem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "damo vs dat". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #9,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.