datvsdogWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: dat is a pronoun, dog is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dat” is a pronoun and “dog” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,908
“dat” frequency rank
#8,326
“dog” frequency rank
58234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dat dog
Definition aquele; pronome neutro que se refere a algo ou alguém distante de quem fala cão, cachorro

Where the eye mixes dat and dog

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

3 ch
dat
3 ch
dog

Why the eye confuses dat with dog

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dat is [dɑt] while dog is /dɔɡ/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58234, 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]. dog is at rank #8,326, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɔɡ/.

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 58234, this pair ranks #8,865 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dat vs dog

Shared letters: d. Private to "dat": at. Private to "dog": go.

"dat" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dog" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dat" for "dog" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dat" is a pronoun and "dog" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "dat" vs "dog" - which ranks higher?
"dog" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,326 in our Portuguese list, against #49,908 for "dat". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "dat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dog" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,865 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dat" and "dog" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "damo vs dat". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #8,865 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