Which to use
“den” is an article and “don” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,112
- “den” frequency rank
- #4,306
- “don” frequency rank
- 23418
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | don |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o, artigo definido masculino do caso acusativo singular: | professor universitário (especialmente da Universidade de Oxford ou de Cambridge) |
Where the eye mixes den and don
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses den with don
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: den is /deːn/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while don is /dɒn/ ouvir ^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “den” becomes o in “don”, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23418, 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 ?). don is at rank #4,306, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɒn/ ouvir ^(fonte ?).
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 23418, this pair ranks #46,410 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of den vs don
Shared letters: dn. Private to "den": e. Private to "don": o.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "don" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "don" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "den" or "don" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "don" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,410 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "don" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dat vs den". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #46,410 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.