denvsdoiConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#19,112
“den” frequency rank
#13,272
“doi” frequency rank
32384
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature den doi
Definition o, artigo definido masculino do caso acusativo singular: dois; representado pelo algarismo hindu-arábico 2

Where the eye mixes den and doi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
den
3 ch
doi

Why the eye confuses den with doi

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: den is /deːn/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while doi is /doj/. 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 32384, 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 ?). doi is at rank #13,272, tagged as anum, pronounced /doj/.

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 32384, this pair ranks #35,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of den vs doi

Shared letters: d. Private to "den": en. Private to "doi": io.

"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "doi" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "den" for "doi" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "den" is an article and "doi" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "den" or "doi" show up more?
"doi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,272 in our Portuguese list, against #19,112 for "den". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "den" and "doi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs den". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #35,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list