dat vs du, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“dat” and “du” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,908
“dat” frequency rank: #5,187
“du” frequency rank: 55095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dat	du
Definition	aquele; pronome neutro que se refere a algo ou alguém distante de quem fala	você, tu

Where the eye mixes dat and du

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

3 ch

dat

2 ch

Visual trap between dat and du

A purely visual mix-up. dat ([dɑt]) and du (/du:/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55095, 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]. du is at rank #5,187, tagged as apron, pronounced /du:/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 55095, this pair ranks #10,803 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dat vs du

Shared letters: d. Private to "dat": at. Private to "du": u.

"dat" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "du" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dat" and "du" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They are said differently ([dɑt] versus /du:/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "dat" or "du"?

"du" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,187 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.

Useful next steps

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

Full dictionary entry for "dat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "du" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #10,803 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"dat" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "damo vs dat". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #10,803 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.