delvsdoloWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: del is a contraction, dolo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“del” is a contraction and “dolo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,706
“del” frequency rank
#43,862
“dolo” frequency rank
45568
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature del dolo
Definition do, da, contração da preposição de com o artigo definido singular el: vontade livre e consciente de realizar uma conduta tipificada na legislação penal

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set del and dolo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
del
4 ch
dolo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: del is acontraction and doloanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45568, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

del is recorded at frequency rank #1,706, classified as acontraction. dolo is at rank #43,862, tagged as anoun.

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 45568, this pair ranks #19,821 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of del vs dolo

Shared letters: dl. Private to "del": e. Private to "dolo": o.

"del" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dolo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doloddolo · dloo · dollo · dool · odlo

Frequency comparison

del#1,706
dolo#43,862

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "del" and "dolo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "del" is a contraction and "dolo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "del" or "dolo"?
"del" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,706 in our Portuguese list, against #43,862 for "dolo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering del vs dolo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “del”; for a noun, it's “dolo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “del” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list