Which to use
“dem” is an article and “devi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,268
- “dem” frequency rank
- #47,301
- “devi” frequency rank
- 54569
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dem | devi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o, ao, do, artigo definido masculino do caso dativo singular | dever, ter obrigação de, ter que |
Where the eye mixes dem and devi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dem and devi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dem is /deːm/ while devi is /ˈde.vi/. 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 (article vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dem is recorded at frequency rank #7,268, classified as anarticle, pronounced /deːm/. devi is at rank #47,301, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈde.vi/.
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 54569, this pair ranks #11,176 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dem vs devi
Shared letters: de. Private to "dem": m. Private to "devi": iv.
"dem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "devi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- devi ← ddevi · deiv · devvi · dvei · edvi
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dem" for "devi" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dem" vs "devi" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,176 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dem" and "devi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devi vs device". 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 #11,176 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.