Which to use
“dem” is an article and “dos” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,268
- “dem” frequency rank
- #24
- “dos” frequency rank
- 7292
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dem | dos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o, ao, do, artigo definido masculino do caso dativo singular | o número dois |
Where the eye mixes dem and dos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between dem and dos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dem is /deːm/ while dos is /dɔs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7292, 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/. dos is at rank #24, tagged as anum, pronounced /dɔs/.
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 7292, this pair ranks #66,872 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dem vs dos
Shared letters: d. Private to "dem": em. Private to "dos": os.
"dem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dem" and "dos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "dem" or "dos" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dem" and "dos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,872 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dem" and "dos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs dem". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #66,872 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.