Which to use
“defesa” is a noun and “dessa” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #723
- “defesa” frequency rank
- #375
- “dessa” frequency rank
- 1098
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defesa | dessa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de defender | contração da preposição de com o pronome ou determinante demonstrativo feminino essa: |
Letter map: defesa vs dessa
Shared letters muted; letters that set defesa and dessa apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Role in the sentence - defesa and dessa
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: defesa is anoun and dessaacontraction. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defesa is recorded at frequency rank #723, classified as anoun. dessa is at rank #375, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈdɛ.sɐ/.
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 1098, this pair ranks #74,525 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of defesa vs dessa
Shared letters: ades. Private to "defesa": f. Private to "dessa": -.
"defesa" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dessa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "defesa" and "dessa" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "defesa" vs "dessa" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "defesa" and "dessa".
- Full dictionary entry for "defesa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dessa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,525 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defesa" and "dessa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dessa vs devassa". 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 #74,525 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.