Which to use
“dela” is a contraction and “doula” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #295
- “dela” frequency rank
- #48,371
- “doula” frequency rank
- 48666
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dela | doula |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração da preposição de e do pronome ela | mulher que dá suporte físico e emocional a outras mulheres antes, durante e após o parto |
Where the eye mixes dela and doula
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. dela runs 4 letters (CVCV) against doula's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dela with doula
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dela is /ˈde.lɐ/ while doula is /ˈdow.lɐ/. 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 (contraction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dela is recorded at frequency rank #295, classified as acontraction, pronounced /ˈde.lɐ/. doula is at rank #48,371, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdow.lɐ/.
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 48666, this pair ranks #16,498 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dela vs doula
Shared letters: adl. Private to "dela": e. Private to "doula": ou.
"dela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "doula" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dela" and "doula" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dela" vs "doula" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "doula" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,498 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dela" and "doula" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dolo vs doula". 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 #16,498 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.