Which to use
“de” is a preposition and “duke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1
- “de” frequency rank
- #9,667
- “duke” frequency rank
- 9668
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | de | duke |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | estabelece uma ligação entre duas palavras, (geralmente uma relação de subordinação), podendo expressar | duque |
Where the eye mixes de and duke
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses de with duke
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 duke is /djuːk/; /dʒuːk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9668, 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?). duke is at rank #9,667, tagged as anoun, pronounced /djuːk/; /dʒuːk/.
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 9668, this pair ranks #63,691 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of de vs duke
Shared letters: de. Private to "de": -. Private to "duke": ku.
"de" · 2 letters · shape CV · "duke" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- duke ← dduke · dkue · duek · dukke · udke
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "de" and "duke" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "de" or "duke"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "de" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,691 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "de" and "duke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duke vs dun". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #63,691 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.