delvsdubWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,706
“del” frequency rank
#35,557
“dub” frequency rank
37263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature del dub
Definition do, da, contração da preposição de com o artigo definido singular el: carvalho

Letter map: del vs dub

Shared letters muted; letters that set del and dub apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
del
3 ch
dub

Role in the sentence - del and dub

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: del is acontraction and dubanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

del is recorded at frequency rank #1,706, classified as acontraction. dub is at rank #35,557, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdʊp/, 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 37263, this pair ranks #29,396 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of del vs dub

Shared letters: d. Private to "del": el. Private to "dub": bu.

"del" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "dub" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "del" and "dub" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "del" is a contraction and "dub" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "del" or "dub"?
"del" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,706 in our Portuguese list, against #35,557 for "dub". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pair "del" vs "dub" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "del" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dub" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #29,396 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "del" and "dub" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dub". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #29,396 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list