de vs dit, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“de” is a preposition and “dit” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1
“de” frequency rank: #46,275
“dit” frequency rank: 46276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	de	dit
Definition	estabelece uma ligação entre duas palavras, (geralmente uma relação de subordinação), podendo expressar	isso; pronome neutro que se refere a uma coisa ou pessoa próxima

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set de and dit apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch

3 ch

dit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: de is /ʤɪ/; /ˈde/ (em finais de frases interrogativas, exemplo: estamos falando de?) while dit is [dɪt]. 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 (preposition vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

de is recorded at frequency rank #1, classified as aprep, pronounced /ʤɪ/; /ˈde/ (em finais de frases interrogativas, exemplo: estamos falando de?). dit is at rank #46,275, tagged as apron, pronounced [dɪt].

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 46276, this pair ranks #19,065 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of de vs dit

Shared letters: d. Private to "de": e. Private to "dit": it.

"de" · 2 letters · shape CV · "dit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

de#1

dit#46,275

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "de" and "dit" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "de" is a preposition and "dit" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "de" or "dit"?

"de" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1 in our Portuguese list, against #46,275 for "dit". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering de vs dit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “de”; for a pronoun, it's “dit”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “de” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable