delevsdublêWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#261
“dele” frequency rank
#30,117
“dublê” frequency rank
30378
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dele dublê
Definition contração da preposição de com o pronome pessoal ele ator que substitui outro em tomadas perigosas ou difíceis

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
dele
5 ch
dublê

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dele is /ˈde.lɨ/ while dublê is /du.ˈble/. 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 30378, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dele is recorded at frequency rank #261, classified as acontraction, pronounced /ˈde.lɨ/. dublê is at rank #30,117, tagged as anoun, pronounced /du.ˈble/.

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 30378, this pair ranks #37,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dele vs dublê

Shared letters: dl. Private to "dele": e. Private to "dublê": buê.

"dele" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dublê" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deleddele · deel · delle · dlee · edle

Frequency comparison

dele#261
dublê#30,117

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dele" and "dublê" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dele" is a contraction and "dublê" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dele" or "dublê"?
"dele" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #261 in our Portuguese list, against #30,117 for "dublê". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering dele vs dublê

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “dele”; for a noun, it's “dublê”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dele” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list