Which to use
“de” is a preposition and “du” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1
- “de” frequency rank
- #5,187
- “du” frequency rank
- 5188
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | de | du |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | estabelece uma ligação entre duas palavras, (geralmente uma relação de subordinação), podendo expressar | você, tu |
Where the eye mixes de and du
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: de vs du
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 du is /du:/ ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “de” becomes u in “du”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5188, 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?). 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 5188, this pair ranks #69,497 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of de vs du
Shared letters: d. Private to "de": e. Private to "du": u.
"de" · 2 letters · shape CV · "du" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "de" and "du" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "de" or "du"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "de" 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 #69,497 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "de" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs du". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #69,497 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.