Which to use
“de” is a preposition and “duo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1
- “de” frequency rank
- #15,317
- “duo” frequency rank
- 15318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | de | duo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | estabelece uma ligação entre duas palavras, (geralmente uma relação de subordinação), podendo expressar | grupo de duas pessoas que atuam conjuntamente |
Where the eye mixes de and duo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: de vs duo
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 duo is [du.o], Plural: [du.os]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15318, 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?). duo is at rank #15,317, tagged as anoun, pronounced [du.o], Plural: [du.os].
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 15318, this pair ranks #56,528 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of de vs duo
Shared letters: d. Private to "de": e. Private to "duo": ou.
"de" · 2 letters · shape CV · "duo" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "de" and "duo" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "de" or "duo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "de" and "duo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "de" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,528 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "de" and "duo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs duo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #56,528 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.