Which to use
“delta” is a noun and “desta” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,134
- “delta” frequency rank
- #364
- “desta” frequency rank
- 7498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delta | desta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quarta letra do alfabeto grego e tem um valor numérico de 4 | contração da preposição de com o pronome ou determinante demonstrativo esta |
Letter map: delta vs desta
Shared letters muted; letters that set delta and desta apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. delta and desta follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Role in the sentence - delta and desta
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: delta is anoun and destaacontraction. On the page they differ by a single letter - l in “delta” becomes s in “desta”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delta is recorded at frequency rank #7,134, classified as anoun. desta is at rank #364, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ˈdɛʃ.tɐ/.
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 7498, this pair ranks #66,624 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of delta vs desta
Shared letters: adet. Private to "delta": l. Private to "desta": s.
"delta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "desta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "delta" for "desta" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "delta" or "desta" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "delta" and "desta". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "delta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,624 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delta" and "desta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desatar vs desta". 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 #66,624 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.