denvsdoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: den is a article, do is a contraction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“den” is an article and “do” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,112
“den” frequency rank
#6
“do” frequency rank
19118
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature den do
Definition o, artigo definido masculino do caso acusativo singular: contração da preposição de com o artigo definido o

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set den and do apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
den
2 ch
do

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

den and do form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

den is recorded at frequency rank #19,112, classified as anarticle, pronounced /deːn/ ouvir^(fonte ?). do is at rank #6, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /du/ (/do/, se enfático).

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 19118, this pair ranks #51,706 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

den#19,112
do#6

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "den" and "do" be used interchangeably?
No, "den" and "do" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering den vs do

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an article, it's “den”; for a contraction, it's “do”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “den” 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