def vs du, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“def” is an adjective and “du” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,132
“def” frequency rank: #5,187
“du” frequency rank: 37319
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	def	du
Definition	algo muito bom	você, tu

Where the eye mixes def and du

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

3 ch

def

2 ch

Visual trap between def and du

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: def is /dɛf/ while du is /du:/ ouvir^(fonte ?). 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 (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

def is recorded at frequency rank #32,132, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɛf/. 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 37319, this pair ranks #29,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of def vs du

Shared letters: d. Private to "def": ef. Private to "du": u.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "def" is an adjective and "du" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

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

"du" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,187 in our Portuguese list, against #32,132 for "def". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "def" 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 #29,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"def" and "du" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs def". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #29,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.